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David V. Bush 



POEMS OF MASTERY 
and 

LOVE VERSE 



DAVID V. BUSH 

AUTHOR OF 

Will Power and Success 

Applied Psychology and Scientific Living 

Inspirational Poems 

Soul Poems and Love Lyrics 

How to Make Love and Marry 

Practical Psychology and Sex Life 

Psychology of Grit and Gumption 

Character Analysis — How to Read People at Sight 






Copyright 1922 

by 
David V. Bu«h 



The Lincoln Press 
St. Louis, Mo. 

David V. Bush, Publisher 

3401 Franklin Ave. 

St. Louis, Mo. 

©ClAe98402 



DEDICATION 

This book is gratefully dedicated to the thousands 
of people throughout the world who have helped 
make my great speaking campaigns successful by 
their attendance and who by love and trust have 
achieved the mastery over self, environment, con- 
ditions and failure. 

David V. Bush. 



WORKS OF DAVID V. BUSH 



Cloth Novelette 

Practical Ps3xhology and Sex Life 

—General $25.00 $27.00 

(To Class Members) 6.00 8.00 

Will Power and Success 2.50 4.00 

Applied Psychology and Scientific 

Living 3.50 5.00 

Grit and Gumption... LOO L25 

Inspirational Poems L75 2.50 

Poems of Mastery and Love 

Verse 1 .50 2.25 

How to Make Love and Marry — 
Sex Harmony. After Mar- 
riage—What? 3.00 4.00 

Character Analysis — How to 
Read People at Sight — 

To Class Members 8.00 10.00 

General 25.00 27.00 

DAVID V. BUSH, Publisher 

3401 Franklin Avenue 

St. Louis, Mo. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



Inspirational Verse 

Page 

Do Not Grumble U 

The Successful Man 13 

Opportunity 15 

Make One More Plunge 17 

Don't Lose Your Goat 18 

Do Not Lose Your Pep 20 

The Winning Salesman 22 

My Regrets to the Man Who Gives Up 23 

Be A Booster 25 

I'll Stand Alone and Fight 27 

You'll Strike Your Stride 29 

Keep Forever At It 30 

My Health to the Man Who Is Down 31 

Determination 33 

Keep Warmed Up 34 

Do It Better 36 

Slide 37 

You Can't Always Hit the Bull's-Eye 39 

Grit Your Teeth 41 

What's Your Aim 42 

Life's Turning Point 43 

If 44 

It Cannot Be Done and They Know It 46 

Don't Wave the Flag of White 48 

Keep Plodding 49 

Suppose You Haven't Won 51 

You Must Win 53 

It's Better to Smile 54 

Keep Everlastingly at It 55 

Poxing Gloves of Pluck 56 

Who Wins 57 

Success Will Come 58 

Big Men 59 

Pluck 60 

The Man With Faith 61 

5 



Table of Contents 



Love Verse Page 

For You Are Mine, Mine, Mine! 65 

When You Are Mine 67 

The Price of Love 68 

Love's Sunset 69 

Though Jilted, Still I Love 72 

The Unfaithful Wife 75 

My Wife 76 

Till Death Doth Us Part 77 

My Loyal Wife 79 

Love Understands 80 

Sweethearts Forever 82 

Love 83 

How to Have Friends 84 

Love Forever 85 

Trust and Home 

I Shall Not Doubt 89 

The Spoken Word 91 

Uncrowned 93 

Mother Every Time 95 

Go Show Your Gratitude 96 

With God No Hell 98 

When My Daughter Says Good Night 99 

Thankful 102 

The Preacher's Wayward Son 103 

The Invalid 105 

Is He A Christian 106 

The Simple Life 108 

Friends in Space Ill 

Lonely 112 

Christmas 114 

Born Again 116 

He Gladdened Some Child's Heart 117 

They Do Not Know What They Do 119 

Just Show Your Hands 121 

Let Me Be Kind 123 

Christ, the Universal Man 124 

No Bad Weather 125 

In Memoriam 126 

Reward 127 

My Mother 128 

Trust 130 

6 



Table of Contents 



Poems of War and Peace page 

Somewhere in France 133 

Old Glory 134 

No Hymn of Hate for the U. S. A 135 

Pickett's Brave Command 137 

Now the Great War Is Over 140 

The Handwriting on the Wall 141 

Another Sinking 143 

The Profanity of War 145 

Business Men, Awake 147 

Sink to Death but be Cool 148 

If Not Burned They Stink 149 

The Birthday Present 151 

Unknown 153 

The Blasphemy of War 155 

Europe Is Tramping to War 158 

Burning the Dead 160 

The Soldier's Fate 161 

Hell's Turned Loose 163 

Belgium Has Covered Herself With Glory 166 

The Belgium Bread Line 167 

Anywhere in Europe 168 

Prepare— But What? 169 

Has Christianity Failed? 170 

Everybody's Rooting for Uncle Sam 172 

Admiral George Dewey 173 

Buffalo Bill 174 

America's Prayer 176 



Light Verse 



Why Is a Bachelor? 179 

Why Man Is Bald 182 

The Talkative Barber 183 

Short Skirts 185 

Fisherman's Luck, or Just the Truth 186 

Vacation Time 188 

Buying A Hat 190 

The Servant Question and Honesty 192 

7 



Table of Contents 



Dialect Verse 



Page 



Awfully Und VonderfuUy Made 195 

Christmas Gifts 196 

T Too Haf Lofed 199 

Remaking Myself 200 

Schlow Down Fer Der Safety Zone 202 

Kissing Der Soldiers 203 

Sharks 204 

Someding Schould Pe Done 205 



Inspirational Verse 



Do Not Grumble 



DO NOT GRUMBLE 



Misfortune's bruised your brow again ; 
The clouds have poured their floods of rain; 
The lightning from an angry sky 
Has hit you hard as you passed by! 
Your cup of sorrow's at the brim; 
You're facing life with spirit grim; 
O'er all resounds Misfortune's mumble, 
Be glad for life and do not grumble! 

The one you loved has found relief, 

So that you sit alone in grief; 

No friend can bring a ray of cheer, ^ 

You pine because **She is not here." 

Your thirty years of joy and bloom 

Lie still and pallid in the tomb; 

Mourn not your lot, for all things crumble- 

Be glad for love, and do not grumble! 

The rains of spring have washed away 
The grain you planted yesterday. 
So that your ground must languish drear 
And bare until another year! 
Do not complain, for left to you 
Are fertile fields and heavens blue; 
What if your plans are all a- jumble? 
Be glad for land, and do not grumble! 

11 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



Suppose you Ve lost a hand or eye ; 

'Twill do no good to sit and cry, 

For other souls have had like pains, 

And through them all have found their gains. 

Misfortunes come to train the mind, 

To bear and struggle and be kind; 

So though you oft may trip and tumble, 

Be glad for feet, and do not grumble! 

Suppose that wealth has taken flight 
And each day aggravates your plight; 
These trials hurt, we must admit. 
But where is he who's ne'er been hit? 
Life is not made of gems and gold. 
You'll gain again if brave and bold. 
If wealth has left you poor and humble. 
Be glad 'twas yours, and do not grumble! 

No man on earth has gone through life 
Without some bruises in the strife; 
Each in his day has made mistakes. 
And in confusion nursed his aches. 
No time on bygone errors spend — 
The game is on; play to the end. 
The baseball ace who ne'er could fumble 
Is yet unborn — so do not grumble! 



12 



The Successful Man 



THE SUCCESSFUL MAN 



Successful men are always kicked, they're kicked 

with envious wrath, 
No matter what their line may be, on life's laborious 

path. 
The man who wins is always kicked, they kick 

him black and blue; 
He's thumped with "mud" and **rotten-egged"; 

gets number fourteen shoe. 

Because he's always on the job; industrious at his 

work, 
Because he plods and plugs away, while other men 

may shirk. 
Because he puts more in his work and gets more 

in return; 
And stirs things up and gets things done, he's 

kicked by those who yearn. 

The men who set the world ahead are kicked in 

jealous spite! 
They lift us to a higher plane, but feel green envy's 

blight; 
No matter, sir, what lives they save, no matter what 

they give, 
If they do more than other men, they're punctured 

like a sieve. 

13 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



If you're not kicked, I wonder now if you have lost 

your hope? 
Do you play fair and do your best, or sulk and 

grunt and mope? 
If you*re not kicked, you won*t rise far; so man get 

in the game. 
And let them kick you all around — kick hard until 

they're lame. 

So do your work and play your game — play fair 
and hard all day; 

And let the townsmen wag their tongues, the gos- 
sips have their say, 

And never mind their cutting ways, nor see that 
surly frown, 

For in the end you'll beat them all — although 
you're oft kicked down! 



14 



Opportunity 



OPPORTUNITY 



Opportunity knocks many times every day, 
And if carelessly slighted departs on its way; 
But it never evades you, for some time again, 
It is sure to return — and if seized, will remain! 

You must study its aspect and know how to take 
Every chance that is offered, its friendship to make ; 
You must cherish a faith that it some day will bless 
The dull course of your life, and turn ills to success. 

Believe in its coming with mind strong and keen. 
And be sure that you know it, when once it is seen ; 
It may come in the sun, yet look still in the storm. 
For misfortunes may show you its bright beaming 
form. 

Each night the great sun nestles down in the west. 
But next morning returns with the same ardent 

zest; 
So remember whenever you fall by the way. 
That a nev/ opportunity waits you next day! 

No care is so trying, no failure so great, 
That you can't find a new chance to battle with fate. 
Watch close for your boon, for it's e'er on the wing, 
And the end of your trials at last it will bring. 

15 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



Gain knowledge and courage, seek wisdom and 

light, 
Lest you miss the fleet chance when it looms into 

sight ; 
Every minute improve, and dismiss the dull past. 
Nor believe that old woes 'til the morrow will last. 

Through the star-studded night and the noonday's 

blue vault, 
Floats benign Opportunity, never to halt; 
It is knocking each hour, and it calls loud and clear, 
So be watchful and ready to answer, "I'm here!" 



16 



Make One More Plunge 



MAKE ONE MORE PLUNGE 



If first you haven't learned to swim, 
YouVe facing life with prospects dim; 
YouVe lost your nerve and missed your stride, 
And oft may wish you could have died. 
But if you swim, life's tide will still 
Convey you through each trying ill ; 
Fear not, when stopped, again to lunge — 
Stand up and make another plunge. 

The swimmer who would gain renown 
Must sometimes sink, be oft cast down; 
Must swallow water, gulp and choke, 
Before he learns the steady stroke. 
But soon he's safe in that calm sea 
Wherein lie rest and victory. 
If you have sunk, try once again — 
Stand up and plunge into the main! 

Before the swimmer learns to float, 
He hovers near some friendly boat. 
And looking 'round with anxious eye 
Cries out for help when waves are high. 
But when he finds no boat at hand 
He paddles hard and gains the land; 
So though in troubles to your chin, 
Strike out with all your might— and wm! 

17 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



DONT LOSE YOUR GOAT 



Jim Casey had two balls; two strikes; as he stood 

up to bat, 
"Ball three** was called — -another came — when 

*'Holy Smoke! What's that?'* 
Clean over third, beyond the fence, the flying 

sphere he smote. 
And scored a straight home run because he didn't 

lose his goat! 

And so in life's big game, young friend, the one 

who leads the score 
Is he who calmly meets each shock and stands alert 

for more ; 
You'll be abused and nicknamed, son, with every 

curse afloat, 
But always can come out on top if you dont lose 

your goat! 

You'll make mistakes aplenty, boy, but don't let 

that distress, 
So long as you've the staying power to mend each 

passing mess ; 
There's much you can afford to lose, though 

others jeer and gloat ; 
So long as you don't lose your grip, or let 'em get 

your goat! 

18 



Don't Lose Your Goat 



Though many men will try their worst to make you 
slip and fall, 

Just pay no heed, but keep your nerve — the great- 
est thing of all; 

Give up, if need be, house and home; give up your 
cap and coat; 

But if you're truly out to win, don't dare give up 
your goat! 

From rich and poor, from strong and weak, will 

come a thousand snares ; 
Let each one but a lesson be, to guide past future 

cares. 
Your losses all to one great end with cheerfulness 

devote. 
For not a one can set you back unless you lose 

your goat ! 



19 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



DO NOT LOSE YOUR PEP 



If you've; been flayed by Failure's lash, 

Do not lose your pep! 
If you have lost your friends and cash, 

Do not lose your pep! 
The lash in time will ravel out; 
You'll gain more friends who will not doubt; 
With new-earned wealth your cares you'll flout- 

Do not lose your pep! 

If blasting winds have blown your way. 

Do not lose your pep! 
No wind or storm can last for aye. 

Do not lose your pep! 
If frowning fortune threatens you 
And wicked lightning streaks the blue, 
Stand firm and fast; for peace ne'er sue — 

Do not lose your pep! 

If Fate assails you ill by ill, 

Do not lose your pep! 
If evil strikes with claws to kill, 

Do not lose your pep! 
Though grave and grievous be your plight; 
Though not a star shine forth at night; 
That is no time to quit the fight — 

Do not lose your pep! 

20 



Do Not Lose Your Pep 



If all your plans have come to naught, 

Do not lose your pep! 
'Tis much to say you bravely fought; 

Do not lose your pep! 
If your bright star is on the wane, 
Cease not your task — plunge in again! 
Vict'ry will come through grief and pain 

Do not lose your pep! 



21 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



THE WINNING SALESMAN 



Most men are v/orth just what they bring, 
And he is worth the fewest pence, 

Who comes back to the boss and whines, 
**I couldn't get an audience!" 

Big things turn up when they are turned, 

And difficulty's no defense; 
Go back where once they turned you down, 

And firmly seek an audience! 

No stern rebuff or courteous slip 

Should fail a man of grit and sense, 

And if you keep your head and nerve 
You'll surely get an audience! 

The greatest men in every sphere 

Fail often — but straighway commence 

To try once more, and in the end 
They always get an audience! 

So take your knocks just like a man; 

Somehow, you too, can leap the fence! 
If one way fails, another wins — 

Go back and get your audience! 

22 



My Regrets to the Man Who Gives Up 



MY REGRETS TO THE MAN WHO GIVES UP 



My regrets from a heart of compassion and pain, 
If you've fled from the fray and will not try again. 
For the road's just as broad, just as smooth, just as 

bright 
In the beckoning future, if only you'll fight. 
The men who have climbed to the uttermost peak 
Are the men who have failed, but have scorned to 

be weak ; 
If you quit in the fight ere it draws to its end. 
You've my deepest regrets — and the hope you'll 

amend! 

My regrets to the man who has reached middle life. 
And who ceases to dream or to plan for the strife ; 
Who thinks that for him there's no honor or fame, 
And has lost his old zest for the combat and game. 
Though once he had started to conquer or die, 
He now gives it up and no longer will try ; 
I'm sorry for him, but I'm sorrier still 
For the loved ones depending upon his dead will. 

My regrets to the man who deserts in the fray 
When there's heaviest danger of losing the day; 
Perhaps when he quits, the worst fighting is done. 
And a brief moment longer would show he had won. 

23 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



More than one hapless fighter has pummeled his foe 
Almost down to the mat, then too early let go ; 
He may have already come through the main round, 
Yet he staggers off beaten — his wreath on the 
ground ! 

My regrets to the man without vision of youth, 
Who has turned a deaf ear to the promptings of 

truth; 
Who thinks it too late to strive on toward the goal 
That once he had set with a vigorous soul ; 
Who quits on the turnpike of struggle and pain, 
And ceases to win as he deems it all vain. 
But in parting I mention a thing that is true — 
It is never too late for a come-back — for YOU! 



24 



Be a Booster 



BE A BOOSTER 



Boost, and the world boosts with you ; 

Knock, and you knock alone; 
If you're out to win through thick and thin 

You must have the booster's tone! 

Kick, and your toes will suffer; 

Boost, and you'll put it through; 
For the throng can't halt while you find fault, 

But will pay you for what you do ! 

Boost, and the world respects you; 

Knock, and it turns its face ; 
You must help, not balk; for the railer's talk 

Keeps him back in the busy race. 

Knock, and the doors are bolted; 

Boost, and they open wide; 
There is little use for sour abuse. 

And they're looking for smiles inside! 

Lift, and the load is easy; 

Lean, and it seems too great; 
You should throw your force in the proper course 

If you want it to move the weight! 

25 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



Boost, and the Fates will help you; 

Knock, and the ill winds fret ; 
You can't keep afloat if you rock the boat, 

Or speed if your brake is set! 

Boost, and your spirit's happy; 

Knock, and your fate's unkind; 
You can reap no boon when you're out of tune, 

For the crowd never stops to mind! 

Boost, and the world is with you; 

Knock, and you pine alone; 
So blithely stand for your task and land. 

And the world will become your own! 



26 



ril Stand Alone and Fight 



FLL STAND ALONE AND FIGHT 

Through all the night I stand alone, 

With no kind ray of light ; 
Though vanquished sore on every side, 

I'll stand alone and fight! 

No one to cheer, all friends are gone; 

And dark the awful night; 
Backed to the wall, I stand alone — 

I stand alone and fight! 

One time my friends believed in me; 

But disappeared through fright; 
Though not a soul believes me now, 

I'll stand alone and fight! 

Blindfolded, too, I stand alone; 

How direful is my plight! 
No one to help, with future bleak, 

Alone rU stand and fight! 

The road ahead is dark and drear. 
Fate shows her fangs to bite; 

Yet all the portents I defy — 
I'll stand alone and fight! 

27 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



Backed to the wall, my hard-plied sword 

Is broken, and too light; 
But nothing breaks or bends my soul — 

I stand alone and fight! 

Backed to the wall — on every side 

111 fortune mocks with spite. 
I hurl defiance at my fate— 

I'll stand alone and fight! 

'Neath stormy skies I stand alone; 

The lightning blurs my sight; 
With no protection but my will 

I'll stand alone and fight! 



28 



You'll Strike Your Stride 



YOU'LL STRIKE YOUR STRIDE 



All men, like horses, have a stride — 

To find it, they have often sighed. 

And feared themselves withheld b}^ Fate, 

From falling in their proper gait. 

But many heroes, holding fast. 

Have found the cherished gait at last; 

So never quit the race, for you 

Will strike your stride if you push through! 

The stride we have, our running gait. 
To some comes soon, to some comes late; 
Nor should the one who lags behind 
Despair that he the stride will find. 
He has the power with pluck and grace 
At length to win the toilsome race; 
For in each one there rests the stride 
That to the brave is ne'er denied. 

If then your proper stride you seek 
Curse not your fate in accents weak. 
But be a man, and in the strife. 
Plunge with the strength of all your life. 
The man who has the nerve and grit 
Will like the bulldog, never quit. 
But win the race and pass the wire — 
He's found his stride and cannot tire! 

29 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



KEEP FOREVER AT IT 



A toast to the man who works like a trooper, 
Who makes hard work his great habit. 

The gods shall descend with life's blessing when 
A fellow forever keeps at it. 

There are prizes in life for the worker and toiler, 
To those who make work their chief habit. 

There are diamonds all set in life's coronet 
For the man who forever keeps at it. 

There are honors and friendships by work oft ce- 
mented. 
For those who make work their one habit. 
There are souls knit together to breast life's rough- 
est weather, 
For those who forever keep at it. 



30 



My Health to the Man Who Is Dov/n 



MY HEALTH TO THE MAN WHO IS DOWN 



I drink to the man who is down and fights on, 
Though he lie where the gulfs of calamity yawn; 
Who has slipped in the race and is rolling to death, 
'Til he lacks a last hope and has reached his last 

breath. 
If he pray, not despairing, nor deem life in vain, 
But boldly declares he will try once again. 
Then I drink to that man, and I prophesy this: 
That nothing can push him into the abyss! 

I cheerfully toast the man prostrate and out. 
Whom others would shun, and like Pharisees flout; 
For the best of the men who have finally won 
Have often been burned by humanity's sun; 
Have been left by the roadside for scoffers to jeer, 
And refused food and shelter, no matter how near. 
My toast to the hero who once more will try. 
Though deserted and left in the gutter to die ! 

All hail to the man who has failed and been bruised. 
From whose veins the warm life-blood has silently 

oozed ; 
Yet who still can keep calm and hold fast to his life 
By the thread that another would cut in the strife. 

31 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



That man has my toast and my heart and my hand, 
For sometime on the summit I know he will land. 
The man who can fight when the last thing seems 

lost, 
Is the man who will conquer, whatever the cost! 

Applause to the man who with resolute will 

Has won in the struggle of fever and ill; 

Who would never give up when the world thought 

him dead, 
And who now has come out in the race far ahead. 
Whatever his station, whatever his lot, 
I sing in his honor and envy him not; 
And what in the teeth of despair he could do, 
Can with firmness of spirit be equalled by YOU ! ! 



32 



Determination 



DETERMINATION 



I'll plan my work and follow it, 

For I'm on victory bent; 
For all the strength and will I need, 

The gods to me have lent. 

I know there's something I can do 
In this great world I'm in! 

The gods give me a vast desire 
To labor and to win. 

I see around me many men 
Who work in skillful way; 

And I affirm God means that I 
Shall do as well as they. 

Of course there's something I can do. 

And do exceeding well; 
I'll find that work and follow it, 

For naught my soul can quell. 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



KEEP WARMED UP 



It's when the players get warmed up, 

And perspiration flows, 
That they can run in hottest sun 

While time unnoticed goes. 

It*s when the race-horse tugs the bit 

Because he's run a pace; 
When bathed in foam he makes for home, 

That glad he wins the race. 

It's when a man gets warmed in life 

By steady, tireless gait. 
And finds a pace with ready grace 

That he can conquer Fate. 

The one who lolls and loafs around 

And sips the lazy cup, 
Who whines and shirks yet thinks he works, 

Has never got warmed up. 

It's when a man gets fairly warmed. 

And never halts or lags. 
That work is play, as he his way 

Wends among money-bags. 
34 



Keep Warmed Up 



The man who never spurts at work, 

Or gets his blood red-hot, 
May win his aim in life's great game. 

But chances are he'll not. 

The winner does the greatest task 
With ease, and looks for more; 

Works on high gear, year after year. 
Alive at every pore. 

If not warmed up, we- listless work. 
Our blocd unstirred and pale; 

We idly scan the destined plan. 
And half expect to fail. 

Who thinks that life is dull and hard; 

That joys to him are few; 
Is plainly chilled — with zest unfilled — 

He is not warmed all through. 

To gain your goal and reap rewards 

In comfort and in fame. 
Keep warmed clear through by what you do 

In life — your greatest game! 



35 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



DO IT BETTER 



There's just one certain way to climb up to the top, 

Where there's plenty of room to expand, 
Where each thing's more congenial and not quite 
so menial, 

With chances to think and command; 
It is simple, yet not for the shirk or the drone 

Whom the bonds of dull indolence fetter. 
For the way to get there in foul weather or fair 

Is to work just a little bit better! 

There's promotion ahead — will the honor be yours, 

Or be left for some * 'luckier" neighbor? 
For it rests with just you what the future will do 

To reward your industrious labor. 
The man who mounts high, leaving others behind, 

Must be never a whiner or f retter ; 
For we don't reach the goal with a sorrowful soul, 

But by working a little bit better ! 

There is work you can do, and how well it is done 

Is for you and you only to say ; 
But who does it the best will stand first in the test 

That leads on to the bright better way. 
So buckle right down to outdo your own past, 

And each moment toil square to the letter; 
For the prize-winning man sticks to one golden 
plan, 

And works just a little bit better! 

36 



Slide 



SUDE 



In league baseball when near a base 
And play is close, without much grace 
The runner plunges, falls, and slides. 
And clouds of frantic dust provides. 
To some it seems a trifle odd 
To see him ploughing sand and sod, 
But many a time ere play is done 
By such a slide the game is won! 

In making slides a suit is ripped, 
One man is spiked, another tripped; 
Bruised shins there are— joints out of place- 
An ankle turned— a bleeding face 
But men of gumption, grit and life, 
Will slide ofttimes to win the strife; 
Bruises and raps ne'er stop the play — 
You have to slide to win the day! 

In life's great game when base is near, 
We slide sometimes, but void of fear; 
For he who has the sportsman's grip 
Won't mind a casual bump or rip. 
Not many reach life's highest goal 
Without a torn and bleeding soul; 
The extra slide the hero points— 
The tattered garb and aching joints! 

37 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



If you are free from scar or whack, 
From broken bone or weary back, 
Perhaps you haven't reached first base 
For fear of soiling clothes or face. 
Stand at the plate with battling nerve 
To bang the swiftest pitcher's curve; 
Don't think about your shins or hide — 
Run like a winner — slide! man! slide! 

For who in life has reached home plate 
Who hasn't felt the knocks of fate; 
Who stands unfallen and unbruised, 
And passed the bases unconfused? 
Just duck your head and boldly dart; 
If once put out, make one more start; 
Don't hesitate in fear and pride — 
Plunge for your goal— slide! Kelly! slide! 



38 



You Can't Always Hit the Bull's-Eye 



YOU CANT ALWAYS HIT THE BULL'S-EYE 



No man can hit the bull's-eye 

Full ten times out of ten; 
The one who is the best shot 

Will miss it now and then. 
The same old gun, though faithful, 

Not always rings the bell. 
And why it didn't do it 

The owner ne'er can tell. 

And so in life the best man 

Will miss a shot or two. 
But though he err a moment 

That does not mean he's through; 
For with a sportsman's spirit 

Again he takes an aim, 
And ere the powder's vanished 

He's brought down his big game. 

In life, then be a sportsman. 

And if by chance today 
You miss the gleaming target. 

Hold firm your nerve and pray; 
Again brace gun and shoulder 

And at the target fire, 
For yet you'll hit the bull's-eye 

Though now your luck seems dire. 

39 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



Some men to be a crack shot 

Almost a lifetime spend, 
And through their faithful practice 

Are victors in the end. 
The game of life is bigger, 

But if you practice well 
Some day in joy and triumph 

At last you'll ring the bell! 

The target of your lifetime 

Is looming just ahead. 
So keep your rifle ready 

No matter what is said. 
Fail not to do your firing 

With steady nerve and aim; 
And when you pull your trigger, 

Bang ! Down will come YOUR game ! 



40 



Grit Your Teeth 



GRIT YOUR TEETH 



Are you bound down on every side, 

With sorrow underneath? 
Don't quail or stop — you'll land on top — 

But you must grit your teeth ! 

You can do much in life, young man. 

Though starting far beneath. 
On top you'll rise, 'neath adverse skies, 

If you but grit your teeth! 

Are you the under dog today? 

Dare not your sword to sheath. 
But firmly stand — on top you'll land — 

If you will grit your teeth ! 

Ay, set your jaw though gods and Fate 

Their darkest ills bequeath ; 
You're bound to win if you but grin 

And bravely grit your teeth ! 



41 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



WHAT'S YOUR AIM? 



If you have missed the cherished goal 

That you have sought for years, 
Try something less beyond your soul, 

And waste no time in tears. 
Without a zeal for greater things 

The less might never be. 
So let your fancy use its wings. 

And let your mind soar free. 

The world's best shots don't always hit 

The marks at which they aim. 
And when they miss they scorn to quit, 

But seek a lesser fame. 
The trials that have gone before 

Give practice, skill, and strength; 
So quick they seize their guns once more, 

And shoot at shorter length. 

You do not have to hit each time 

The target that you set. 
But from each failure you must climb, 

And new ambitions get. 
Let no mishap your courage drain, 

Or forward progress halt; 
To fail need give no conscience pain — 

For aiming low's the fault! 
42 



Life's Turning Point 



LIFE'S TURNING POINT 



In every battle's hectic tide 

There comes a crucial hour, 
When leaders know it's ripe to strike, 

And win with latent power. 
The doctor, too, by beds of pain 

The crisis oft awaits, 
When after peril conies the sway 

Of brighter, kinder fates. 

And so in life's hard fight, as well, 

A turning point we find, 
When bright men see and forge ahead, 

While sluggards lag behind. 
Look well around the troubled field 

Before you quit the fray; 
For you may all unknown have reached 

Your turning point today! 

Full many a man has neared success. 

Yet quit just as it came; 
So sits today a broken soul. 

Defeated in the game. 
The turning point had come for him. 

But blind he let it go, 
And in a moment wrecked his life 

Because he did not know! 

43 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



IF 



How many a man has wrecked his skiff 
Upon that little measly IF! 

If I my precious youthful hours 

In study close had spent; 
If I had trained my latent powers; 

I should not now repent. 

If I had learned to save my cash, 

Instead of spending all 
In pleasures vain and ventures rash, 

My *'roir* v/ould be less small. 

If I had done the other thing. 

Instead of what I did; 
If I had fled from folly's sting, 

From smiling vice had hid; 

If I had shunned the social glass, 
And clung to honest work; 

Today I might be rich, alas! 
Not slaving like a Turk. 

Ah, yes; if you had done but that, 

And not the other thing; 
Today your purse would not be flat; 

You might live like a king. 

44 



If 



**IF* ranks with **but", **perhaps*' and **can*t", 

To cow the feeble soul; 
For shame! Forget this coward rant; 

Press boldly toward the goal. 

How many a man has wrecked his skiff 
Upon that little measly IF! 



45 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



IT CANNOT BE DONE AND THEY KNOW IT 



From the days of creation, it's been just the same, 

And it will be to judgment day. 
They tell you, each one, that it cannot be done; 

At least not in this or that way! 

Every time this old world has been boosted ahead: — 
"That cannot be done," and they knew it. 

They left him alone to hold fast to his own, 
To cling to his own and to do it. 

''You'll never do that; it cannot be done." 
It could not be done and they knew it. 

'Mid their dolorous song he just trotted along — 
Just trotted along bound to do it! 

**We never can fly," that's what they all said; 

We never could fly and they knew it; 
Yet ignoring them there, paying scoffs with a 
prayer — 

They just smiled, and went forward to do it. 

"You'll never succeed, or at least in that way; 

We know that you surely will rue it;" 
But while they shouted nay, every night, every day, 

He went right on determined to do it. 

46 



It Cannot Be Done and They Know It 



**Oh, do not risk that, for you'll never succeed; 

Every cent that you own you'll lose through it." 
But while other folks blame, and in horror exclaim, 

Someone soon will bob up and just do it. 

So you be the first struggler to shoulder your load; 

Push on, friend, and blaze your way to it. 
And while they sit near, paralyzed by their fear, 

Just go to it, old comrade, and do it! 



47 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



DONT WAVE THE FLAG OF WHITE 



Advance! Retreat! Slow down and tack! 

Seek cover under night! 
Retrace your steps! Back up and load! 

Don't wave the flag of white! 

Footsore and bruised; ready to drop — 

You're in a piteous plight — 
Though ammunition's almost gone, 

Don't wave the flag of white! 

Recede! Retire! Shrink back! Withdraw! 

But do not think of flight! 
Take anything misfortune gives — 

Don't wave the flag of white! 

Although you do not know it, friend. 
There is a way to fight, 

Though you're pressed hard on every side- 
Don t wave the flag of white! 



48 



Keep Plodding 



KEEP PLODDING 



If you think you're **down and out," 

Keep plodding. 
If today you're on the rout, 

Keep plodding. 
Other days are coming yet 
When you'll win, that you can bet. 
Frequently 'tis best to sweat 

By plodding. 

If you've tried and if you've failed, 

Keep plodding. 
Other heroes who've been hailed 

Kept plodding. 
Other men saw all was lost, 
On misfortune's billows tossed; 
Yea, they too have paid the cost 

By plodding. 

If your ship has not come in, 

Keep plodding. 
For some time you're bound to win 

By plcdding. 
Every ship must meet the gale; 
Every effort, every sail. 
Must be used if we prevail — 

Keep plodding. 

49 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



If your own*s not come to you, 

Keep plodding. 
You'll succeed, if you but knew, 

By plodding. 
Just across the roughest street 
There success you'll surely meet — 
You your efforts will complete 

By plodding. 



50 



Suppose You Haven't Won 



SUPPOSE YOU HAVENT WON 



Suppose that you, while racing fast, 
Have slipped, and let the rest iEly past; 
Suppose they're even out of sight — 
Will you quit then, and lose the fight? 
Suppose the turtle in the race. 
Who won the prize by steady pace. 
Had said, "The hare's so far ahead 
I need not try my humbler tread." 

Suppose that Grant at thirty-nine 
Had stopped to loiter and to whine, 
Because the neighbors knew that he 
Could not support his family? 
If he had whimpered, *'I am through — 
I've done the best that I could do — " 
And moaned his dire, disastrous luck, 
He'd ne'er have won the war by pluck I 

Suppose that you are on the way 

To thirty-nine or more today. 

And yet you have not gained the goal 

That once you fixed with hopeful soul. 

What use is it to pine and cry, 

**rm through with strife, and wish to die?' 

The end is just around the curve, 

And means success — so keep your nerve! 

5X 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



Your chance will come, your grit will win, 
If you will stride with upraised chin ; 
All men who start the rising road 
Have had to bear a heavy load. 
If you are slow upon your feet, 
That is no sign you'll never beat 
The very ones who have the start — 
So struggle on with lion heart! 

Don't let another's lead retard 

Your own slow steps, but press on hard; 

Not every man gets started young. 

Or has his praises loudly sung. 

Let not the man ahead today 

Your courage mar, or block your way; 

For if you stick, though now you're down. 

You, too. will wear a victor's crown! 



52 



You Must Win 



YOU MUST WIN 



Suppose that in the race you fell. 
So that no man your worth may tell; 
Your virtues screened behind a mist, 
With none to see that they exist. 
Suppose that other men you know 
Have tasselled corn in many a row, 
While none of yours is yet in sight — 
Should you sit dumb and quit the fight? 

Suppose Retain at fifty-five 
Had moaned the fact he was alive; 
That France had not his talent seen — 
Suppose he'd stopped to vent his spleen 
And curse the gods that gave him breath, 
Or like a coward sought his death? 
Who'd held the Germans at Verdun? 
Retain past sixty was the one! 

Suppose that Lincoln in his haste 
Had given up when first outraced, 
And thought because he once had lost 
That conquest held too great a cost? 
Hie better knew, and saw that we 
Must pay full high for victory. 
The man who's noblest in the strife, 
Like Christ would offer up his life! 

53 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



IT'S BETTER TO SMILE 



Lose temper, and all must perish; 

Smile, and you'll put er through! 
An angry frown puts your true self down — 

So smile, and dare, and do! 

When your rage seems too hot to smother. 
And the world bears a crimson hue, 

Don't play the fool — take a moment to cool — 
Just smile, and you'll push 'er through! 

When you feel like tearing and rending. 
Just pause for a saner view. 

There is naught to gain from your wrathful pain- 
So smile, and you'll push 'er through! 

Lose your temper, and you are vanquished: 
Smile, and you'll put 'er through; 

For anger's the first of your foes — and worst — 
So smile, and dare, and do! 



54 



Keep at It 



KEEP EVERLASTINGLY AT IT 



Be not dismayed if you're not paid 

For what you do today! 
For he who works and never shirks 

Is bound to win some day! 

For years you work just "like a Turk", 

The same old drum-de-drum; 
But never mind — men of your kind 

Have forced success to come! 

You got no cheer for many a year, 

And very little praise? 
'Twas seven years — but with no fears — 

Napoleon had no raise. 

So let each day and record — say, 

"I've done the best I can:" 
Though long the road, heavy the load. 

You'll lead some day the van. 

Remember, man, winners who stand 

Faced failure — often hit. 
There's success en the way for the one who will say 

'Til keep everlastingly at it." 

55 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



POKING GLOVES OF PLUCK 



Ven dings go wrong und dere's no luck, 
Schust ready get to hit 'em pack; 

Put on der poxing gloves of pluck, 
Und smash verever you can vhack! 

Hang on mid teeth schust like a dog, 
Yaw, hang und dry anodder chance; 

Let not your nerves your courage clog — 
But hit so hard you make 'em dance! 

Ven you vould run, schust do not so! 

Schust do not flinch or faint or duck. 
But jounce your trouble mit a blow 

From dose hard poxing gloves of pluck ! 

Suppose your eye vas plack und blue; 

Vat vas der use, mine friend, to vhine? 
Schust lunge out at der foe anew, 

Und hit him mit a bold design. 

Ven you are licked und down und oudt, 
Schust as dey tink you sure iss dead. 

Den yump right oop, und turn aboudt, 
Und smash dose troubles in der head! 

56 



Who Wins 



WHO WINS 

The man who idly says: **I May 

Do this, but by and by," 
May gain perchance the laurel wreath — 

But few on him rely. 

The man who says: **I Ought, I know, 
And shall — some other day,** 

Can scarce expect the best of life — 
He's too much like **I May!'* 

The man who seeks life*s larger prize 
And says: **Of course, I Must,*' 

Is not without his fleeting chance. 
But lacks the will to trust. 

*'I May," **1 Ought," **I Must," "I Dare," 

Becomes an abler man, 
Yet he alone may win the race 

Who boldly cries: *'I Can!" 

**I May,** •*! Ought,** *'I Must," "I Dare," 

Each one his place may fill; 
But he who wins, combines all these; 

••I Dare.** "I Can.** "I Will!" 

57 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



SUCCESS WILL COME 



The man who will steer through the thickest of 
storms, 

And sail for his goal never daunted, 
Will triumph at last o'er each perilous blast 

That the gods of ill-fortune have flaunted. 

The man who unyielding will hew to the line 
When the shadows of hopelessness hover, 

Will find that each blow leads him out of his woe, 
*Til the trials and worries are over. 

The man who hoes corn while his neighbor's asleep. 
And digs in the field without ceasing, 

May suffer a while, but will finally smile 
As his harvest swells rich and increasing. 

The man who stays game while the multitude quit. 
And courage with helpfulness mellows; 

Is the chap who will lead when the others stampede, 
Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 
And win honors and bays from his fellows. 



58 



Big Men 



BIG MEN 

The men who to seats of the mighty have climbed, 
And preside at the head of the table. 

Are the fellows who sweat and who ne'er stop to 
fret, 
But push on just as hard as they're able. 

The men who are feted and honored as great, 
And who hold all the reins in their fingers. 

Are the ones who have tried to pull out of the tide 
Where the current of indolence lingers. 

The men who have mounted above the vast throng, 
Who stood solid where others were bubbles. 

Are the souls who could fight in the thickest of 
night 
And make victories out of their troubles. 

The men who shall lead us in ages to come 

Are the men of invincible vision — 
The men who prevail where another would quail. 

And rise strong over doubt and derision. 



nf) 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



PLUCK 

What won the fray at Lexington? 
What put the Redcoats on the run? 
What turns the fiercest fight to fun? 
Pluck! Pluck! Pluck! 

What brought us to the Western shore? 
What tamed the lands so wild before? 
What bears us through when hearts are sore? 
Pluck! Pluck! Pluck! 

What pushed our borders far and wide? 
What made the land such wealth provide? 
What tamed the desert and the tide? 
Pluck! Pluck! Pluck! 

What laid a nation's roads and rails? 
What filled the seas with billowing sails? 
What flung our wires to all the gales? 
Pluck! Pluck! Pluck! 

What made man rise to wealth and fame? 
What gives him courage, hope and aim? 
What helps him his reward to claim? 
Pluck! Pluck! Pluck! 

What blots despair from valor's plan? 
What forms the primal need of man? 
What makes us cry, "I can! I can!" 
Pluck! Pluck! Pluck! 
60 



The Man With Faith 



THE MAN WITH FAITH 



The man who has faith that his plans will yet carry 

Despite all adverses and sorrow 
Is the man who will win thru thick and thru thin 

Though broke and often must borrow. 

The man who has faith in his help and his neighbor 
And lends then a hand when they need it, 

Will have many friends — for joy so depends — 
The wise man will learn this and heed it. 

So the man who has faith in humanity's make up 

Himself seeks little leisure 
The faith in a power for every new hour 

Shall succeed with joy beyond measure. 



61 



Love Verse 



For You Are Mine, Mine, Mine! 



FOR YOU ARE MINE, MINE, MINE! 



Our lives were for each other made, 

I feel it in my heart; 
Nor could I live in sun or shade 

From your dear side apart. 
God surely linked our kindred lives 

With tenderness divine. 
And endlessly that link survives, 

For you are mine, mine, mine! 

And when the Fates our paths divide 

Across the sea or land. 
We still, by love's soft cord allied, 

Seem wand' ring hand in hand. 
Of many strands our cord is wrought. 

That like pure silver shine; 
They bind us heart and soul and thought, 

For you are mine, mine, mine! 

Your roseate cheeks my heart enchain, 

Your smiles enchant my soul; 
Your winsome eyes a power maintain 

To keep my spirit whole; 
Your lily hands and auburn hair 

Are e'er to me a shrine. 
And naught our love apart can tear, 

For you are mine, mine, mine! 

65 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



But more than flesh us two unites, 

And makes our spirits one; 
A higher flame our union lights, 

That e'en outshines the sun. 
Each to the other, gladly we 

Our souls and lives assign; 
Your very fibre cleaves to me, 

For you are mine, mine, mine! 



(U» 



When You Are Mine 



WHEN YOU ARE MINE 



There are no other girls so dear; 

To you my heart must turn; 
No matter what you say or do, 

My love for you shall burn. 

There's only one true love in life, 
Though known to very few; 

If all the world were mine to choose, 
I still could see but you. 

When you but say the precious word, 
That makes you wholly mine, 

Then happiness will crown my lot; 
For I am thine, thine, thine! 



fi7 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



THE PRICE OF LOVE 



I sought the world over, my darling, 
To find you, the joy of my heart; 

I could not rest now or forever, 
If aught were to drive us apart. 

There's nothing in earth or in heaven. 
There's nothing beyond the dark tomb, 

Can change the fond love that I bear you, 
Or cover its brightness with gloom. 

My soul to your soul is united 

By love-ties which nothing can break; 

I'd give up the world and its treasures, 
Or heaven itself, for your sake. 



68 



Love's Sunset 



LOVERS SUNSET 



We stood together long ago, 
And watched the fading west; 

With heart aglow 1 whispered soft: 
** Tis you that I love best." 

No answered word those dear lips gave, 

Too full of love to speak; 
Though brighter than the sunset gleamed 

Your fair and rosy cheek. 

No time in all my life so sweet. 

So full of warmth and light, 
As when on our betrothal hour 

The sunset smiled good night. 

And ever since that wondrous eve 

Has life been doubly dear; 
Elach sunset hour that comes and goes 

Still draws our hearts more near. 

Whene'er the sun's expiring beams 

Bring glory to the west, 
My thoughts are borne on wings of flame 

To her whom I love best. 

69 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



Each sunset hour my spirit turns 

To that blest moment when 
You sweetly promised to be mine, 

In that remembered glen. 

How many times our hearts have burned 

With love forever true, 
While such experiences we shared 

As sunset never knew. 

We stood beside a casket small, 
To mourn life's faded flower, 

And kissed our little one farewell, 
At sunset's solemn hour. 

How many times we've stemmed the tida 

Of sorrow and of care; 
And in the hour of sunset calm 

Have learned our lot to bear. 

The joys and griefs of human life 

The sun may never know, 
Nor how our eager hearts are thrilled 

By its expiring glow. 

And as each sunset comes and goes, 
Our hearts are closer drawn. 

Our constant love shall never fade; 
Its day is still at dawn. 

70 



Love's Sunset 



Ah, all these years, my sweetheart true, 

Elach sunset in the west 
Has taught me how to cherish more 

The girl I love the best. 

Sweetheart, my eager soul aspires 

To meet life's sternest test, 
In love of her who plighted troth, 

While sunset crowned the v/est. 

And when life's slowly setting sun 

Shall linger in the west. 
Be sure you still will be to me 

The one I love the best. 

And if perchance you first shall pass 

From earth to endless rest, 
E^ch sunset hour shall wake the thought 

Or her whom I love best. 

And you will wait in that far land. 

Beyond the glowing west, 
Until we meet to part no more. 

Where love is ever blest. 



71 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



THOUGH JILTED, STILL I LOVE 



Where are you, dear? Though long ago 
You spurned my love so true, 

Think not my heart as false as his, 
Who has forsaken you. 

How gladly would I give my life 
To bring you joy once more; 

For still my heart cries out for you, 
As in the days of yore. 

Come back to me, where'er you are, 

Nor deem all men untrue; 
For mine is love as free from taint 

As when I sued for you. 

Such love as mine can never die, 
Though weary years have passed; 

The love I bore you long ago 
Is loyal to the last. 

Come back, come back, my only love! 

My heart cries out in pain. 
Let no vain pride or foolish fear 

Your yielding heart restrain. 

72 



Though Jilted, Still I Love 



I love you, O, I love you still, 

Though you are far away; 
With burning heart and eager lips, 

For your return I pray. 

I know you loved me, though you wed 
For gold, and scorned my plea; 

No longer strive to wrong your heart, 
But bring it back to me. 

Where'er you are, O linger not. 

Nor yield to doubt or fear. 
The wrong lies buried in the past ; 

And only love is here. 

O tell me where you wait, my dear, 

And turn to me today. 
Come back to him who loves you most, 

1 plead, I beg, I pray. 

The future years shall make us both 

Forget the ancient wrong; 
And every happy day shall find 

Our union firm and strong. 

Where'er you are, I know full well 

Our hearts in union beat; 
And parting only makes the hope 

Of meeting seem more sweet. 

73 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



O let me fold you to my breast; 

My soul is yours for aye; 
And I'll forget, forgive and love, 

Forever and a day. 

Come back to me, come back to m.e, 

Nor linger in the past; 
Where'er you are, my heart is yours, 

And shall be to the last. 



74 



The Unfaithful Wife 



THE UNFAITHFUL WIFE 



Do you know what it is to be sad, 

For love of a woman untrue? 
Have you shuddered, and feared you were mad, 

When ycur heart was thus pierced through and 
through? 

Has her falseness brought woe to your heart? 

Have you cried through the pitiless night: 
**God, help me to play a man's part!** 

As you shrank from the coming of light? 

Has the woman you loved proved untrue, 

And every sweet promise a lie? 
Has the whole world grown hateful to you, 

*Til you prayed just to lie down and die? 

Take love from man's being away. 

You leave him alone and forlorn ; 
The best of his being you slay, 

And better he ne'er had been born. 

True love is more mighty than death; 

But falsehood than hell is more deep. 
Then heed ye the Scripture that saith: 

** Whatsoever ye sow, ye shall reap.'* 

75 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



MY WIFE 

My soul is bound to your soul 

With bonds that naught can sever 

And whatsoever betide us, 
Our love shall live forever. 



76 



Till Death Doth Us Part 



TILL DEATH DOTH US PART 



soul of my innermost being, 
Most tender and loving and true, 

You make life for me worth the living, 
And skies to seem ever more blue. 

The thought of your love brings me healing 
For all of life's sorrow and care ; 

And faith that this love is eternal 
Gives courage all trials to bear. 

1 know you will ever be true, dear. 

While time and eternity last; 
And safe in this blissful assurance, 
I smile at the griefs of the past. 

I know that you love and will love me, 
And ask for no blessing beside; 

When love is the crown of our being, 
Then heaven on earth doth abide. 

Your love is the richest of jewels 
That shine in life's bright coronet; 

And ever my heart shall sing praises. 
In rapture that thus we have met 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



Your wonderful love, O my sweetheart, 
Brings joy to each hour of my life; 

It brightens each step of my journey — 
The love of my sweet, loyal wife. 

May angels surround and protect us, 
'Til all of earth's course we have run; 

That still we may live undivided. 
In life and death ever as one. 



78 



My Loyal Wife 



MY LOYAL WIFE 



The land of love and lovers, 
The garden bed of life, 

Bears only one fair rosebud — 
My loyal, faithful wife. 

When all our plans miscarry, 
And times seem out of joint, 

One heart is ever constant. 
And ne'er will disappoint. 

With hope's eternal sunshine 
Her face is still aglow. 

As shining after tempest 

We greet the promised bow. 

With love and boundless courage, 
We face the coming years; 

And hand in hand we triumph 
O'er all our griefs and fears. 

The land of love and lovers. 
The garden bed of life. 

Holds one most precious rosebud- 
My loyal, loving wife. 

79 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



LOVE UNDERSTANDS 



To each soul comes its sorrow, 

Its day of anguished tears, 
When darkness clouds the morrow 

And all the coming years. 
Ah, then, when sorely aching. 

We need a helping hand. 
When hearts with woe are breaking, 

Who, who will understand? 

Such saddened hours have taught me 

A dear wife's faithful heart. 
Which healing strength has brought me, 

And bade my cares depart. 
A daughter stands beside me, 

To meet love's mild command; 
And whatsoe'er betide me, 

I know they understand. 

Though oft our griefs are hidden 

From dear ones at our side, 
We feel their love unbidden, 

Which helps us to abide. 
For daughter, wife and mother. 

And son, a faithful band, 
My darkest griefs would smother, 

So well they understand. 

80 



Love Understands 



Though friendship true is royal 

Beyond all kingly power, 
How few are true and loyal. 

When trials darkly lower. 
But love is ever ready 

To meet each hour's demand; 
Its flame burns clear and steady; 

For it will understand. 

My love is ever burning 

For you, dear ones at home; 
For you my heart is yearning, 

Where'er my feet may roam. 
Life's sharpest pangs can never 

Such union firm disband. 
God bless you now and ever. 

Who always understand. 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



SWEETHEARTS FOREVER 



Of all the women in the world 

I've ever met or seen, 
There's only one whom I would crown 

My heart's unrivalled queen. 

'Tis she who holds my changeless heart, 

And still is dear to me; 
Whose faith has shone through all the years- 

My peerless wife is she. 

Dear wife, your pure and constant love 
Through all life's scenes has burned, 

As on the day when first our hearts 
Each to the other turned. 

The years may furrow on your brow 

Deep prints of time and care; 
And yet your love-illumined face 

To me shall seem more fair. 

And we shall live and love as now, 
While time its course shall run; 

And through life's ever-changing years. 
Our hearts shall beat as one. 

And when our days on earth are o'er. 

Beyond life's fitful dream, 
Our souls shall still be knitted fast 

In endless love supreme. 

82 



Love 



LOVE 

My hungry soul is dying 

For you, my love, my own; 

The wild waves hear it sighing; 
The night winds hear it moan. 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



HOW TO HAVE FRIENDS 



And would you have a host of friends, 

On land or on the sea? 
Then look that you remember well 

That YOU a friend must be. 

And would you have the greatest joy 
That heaven to man can send? 

Go, take your neighbor by the hand. 
And say, *'I am your friend." 



^4 



Love Forever 



LOVE FOREVER 



Just to know that one heart is still faithful, 
Just to know that our love will not end, 

Just to love her and be loved forever, 
Brings joy that all bliss doth transcend. 

Oh, be sure that my love will not die, dear, 
It will last all eternity through; 
And your soul will never forsake me, 
But will ever be loving and true. 



85 



Poems of 
Tru^ and Home 



I Shall Not Doubt 



I SHALL NOT DOUBT 



Though black-winged clouds of sorrow pour 

Their torrents on my head, 
And drear and lone I sip my cup 

Of anguish, care, and dread; 
Though storms malignant beat around 

In ceaseless mystery, 
I shall not doubt God's plan for all, 

Or His great care for me. 

I shall not doubt, though wind and snow 

Convulse my troubled life; 
Though all my earthly goods be lost 

Amid the endless strife. 
Though fortune flee and friends forsake. 

And lonely grief be mine, 
I still shall praise God's mighty plan, 

And own His care divine. 

Why should I doubt God's power and love 

Because to my small brain 
He does not show each hidden cause, 

And every act explain? 
A scheme so vast this brain of mine 

Could never understand; 
So I am wisest when I trust, 

And take His leading hand. 

89 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



I place my trust in His good will, 

And wisdom limitless; 
And though I cannot see today, 

In confidence progress. 
I know that of His boundless sphere 

I am a helpless mite, 
And that His sure omnipotence 

Will some day bring the right. 

And so though chaos seem to reign. 

And black disasters blind, 
And every dream dissolve in tears, 

I shall not change my mind. 
Though agony assail my soul 

And tempt me to despair, 
I shall not doubt my Father's love, 

Or question His good care. 



90 



The Spoken Word 



THE SPOKEN WORD 



Whate'er in life we say or do 

A boomerang will be, 
For from the law of **like brings like'* 

We never can be free. 

If lofty thoughts spring from your heart, 
And goodness fills your mind, 

The waves you send abroad in life 
Will come back glad and kind. 

If sin or malice taint your soul, 
And fill your thoughts with hate. 

Be certain that the evil waves 
Will haunt you soon or late. 

If you spread cheer and love around; 

If noble deeds you do. 
All these in time will bring reward. 

And travel back to you. 

If we're to help this suff'ring world 
In thought or word or deed. 

Since what we sow we're sure to reap, 
It*s kindness that we need. 

91 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



If some weak brother falls or slips 

Upon the toilsome way, 
Lend him a hand, and help him rise. 

And guard the things you say. 

God's changeless laws are working still 
And every v/ord comes back; 

And gossip's evil tongue some day 
May have you on the rack. 

So send kind thoughts to all mankind 
Where'er the skies extend; 

For each thought, be it good or bad, 
Will come back in the end. 



92 



Uncrowned 



UNCROWNED 



Your brow may never bear a crown 

Of laurel, gems, or gold, 
Because the thought which you have wrought 

Some other may unfold; 
But though your brief endeavors here 

Invisible may seem. 
With forward sight begin aright 

The castle of your dream. 

The hand of time may lay you low 

Before you sing your song. 
But what your heart has wished to start 

Some day will move the throng; 
The picture that youVe longed to paint, 

Though lingering in your brain, 
Your son's skilled eye may vivify, 

And turn to lasting gain. 

The joy that you would bring to man 

With love and sympathy. 
The restful calm and healing balm, 

May great though silent be. 
And if through toil your tongue be mute, 

If weary ages chill. 
Your soul may yet seme joy beget. 

And wake a helpful thrill. 

93 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



Perchance your kindly thoughts ne'er seem 

To serve a noble cause; 
Yet what you say lights some man's way 

Though you reap no applause. 
So think your thoughts and dream your dreams, 

Nor wasted hold the cost; 
Each one will find a wistful mind, 

For nothing can be lost. 

If all your efforts seem in vain. 

And your lone path seem drear ; 
Your only crown the world's grim frown, 

Your sole reward a sneer; 
Look upward to the placid sky 

And feel the friendly power 
Of Him who knows your works and woes, 

And helps you through each hour. 

For He who made the sun and stars 

Can note a sparrow's flight; 
He understands, and all commands 

Toward His great goal of right. 
And though your brow no chaplet bear, 

Yet when the years are flown. 
Grown from its sleep, someone shall reap 

The seed your hand has sown! 



.94 



Mother Every Time 



MOTHER EVERY TIME 



The world is often cruel, 

And strives to pierce your heart. 
With bitter taunt and insult, 

Or slander's poisoned dart. 
But when it hurls against you 

Its flood of blackest slime. 
There's one that you can count on; 

That's mother every time. 

As in the days of childhood 

When hurt by blow or fall, 
A mother's loving kindness 

Brought healing balm for all; 
So when the world's cold harshness 

Obscures all thoughts sublime. 
There's one that you can count on; 

That's mother every time. 

If you are sad and lonely; 

If failure comes today; 
If those who sought your friendship 

Now basely turn away; 
If down the path of error 

You've wandered in your prime. 
There's one that you can count on; 

That's mother every time. 

95 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



GO SHOW YOUR GRATITUDE 



Someone along life's rocky road 

Gave you a helping hand, 
And as you toiled beneath your load, 

Proved he could understand. 
Since then a host of years extend; 

Successful thoughts intrude; 
But have you thanked your faithful friend? 

Go show your gratitude! 

Some teacher his devotion lent 

That you might wiser grow. 
And ever watched v/ith kind intent 

Your footsteps, sure but slow; 
Today you've won, while he has not, 

But he your fortune made; 
So share with him your happy lot, 

And thank him for his aid. 

Your wife has been your constant guide 

Through years of storm and sun. 
And but for her close by your side 

You never could have won. 
If wealth has made you thoughtless now 

Of her who helped you gain. 
Repair your v/rong, and tell her how 

She lightened every pain. 

96 



Go Show Your Gratitude 



Your mother sits at home today 

Grown wrinkled with the years, 
Yet once she smoothed life's troubled way, 

And calmed your boyish fears. 
Go to her now, ere it be late. 

And gratefully confess 
That most of all she built your fate 

With care and tenderness! 



97 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



WITH GOD NO HELL 



No harm can lurk where God is found, 

For health and peace adorn His reign; 
He dwells triumphant all around, 

In sea and sky, on mount and plain. 
And not an atom moves in space 

But forms a part of His vast soul; 
In every mind, in every place, 

His gifts abundantly unroll. 

His spirit fills each crevice tight, 

No room is left for aught but Him ; 
And all the hovA of shade and light 

He floods resplendant to the brim. 
In you, in me, in all. His waves 

Of healing love sublimely dwell; 
And each from hate and torment saves. 

For God crowds out the doom of Hell! 



9S 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



WHEN MY DAUGHTER SAYS GOOD NIGHT 



Our home life has its many cares, 

And likewise many joys; 
And bliss and sorrow centre still 

Around our girls and boys. 
If they do wrong, upon our lives 

There falls a fatal blight. 
One daily blessing comes to me, 

When daughter says good night. 

Have words been said which sear our souls; 

Have deeds unkind been wrought, 
That fill some tender heart with pain, 

Or stir an angry thought; 
Ah, then it is, as night draws near, 

That all things are set right; 
When falls the hour for evening prayer, 

And daughter says good night. 

We talk it over, make amends. 

And pray for love and peace; 
And sweet forgiveness brings content 

Of soul; and troubles cease. 
Then holy comfort fills the home. 

With discord put to flight; 
And in that sweetly solemn time, 

My daughter says good night. 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



So all through life 1 rest at ease; 

Nor shall 1 e*er repine, 
Nor bow my heavy head in shame, 

While her sweet love is mine. 
Her heart is true; her soul is pure; 

And fortune's utmost spite 
I feel that I can boldly face. 

When daughter says good night. 

A noble heart, a perfect love, 

A spirit free from guile, 
Speak in her soft and tender tones, 

And glow within her smile. 
Her father's longing heart is filled, 

With rapture and delight. 
When from those gentle lips he hears 

A low and sweet good night. 

I bend above her bed to watch 

A face that makes me weep 
For joy in her enduring love. 

**May angels vigil keep, 
Guide her, that still her tender feet 

May walk in paths of light;" 
I pray; and then I rest in peace. 

When daughter says good night. 



100 



When My Daughter Says Good Night 



Sweet daughter, in your eyes -I see 

Your mother*s steadfast soul; 
And know that you w^ill never swerve 

From honor's highest goal. 
Though coming years may bear us far 

Beyond each other's sight; 
Your loyalty is pledged to me, 

As when you say good night. 

Your spotless heart, your loyal soul, 

Your virtue and your love. 
Shall journey with me to life's end, 

And to my home above. 
Your sympathy from day to day 

Makes all the world seem bright; 
And evermore I gladly hail 

My daughter's fond good night. 

Your perfect trust brings needed strength, 

When trials darkly lower. 
And often guards my errant will. 

In fell temptation's hour. 
May I fulfill a father's trust. 

And make our home more bright, 
That worthily I may return 

My daughter's fond good night. 



101 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



THANKFUL 

For harvest white, for bounteous yield, 

For happy land, %vhere peace doth reign, 
For prairie broad and fertile field, 

For sunshine bright and freshening rain, 
For all the joys that crown our lot. 

For all our blessings great and small. 
For gifts received and soon forgot, 

We Sfive Thee thanks, O Lord of all. 



02 



The Preacher's Wayward Son 



THE PREACHER'S WAYWARD SON 



Within our town there lived a boy 
Whose acts were held to shame; 

The preacher's son, whose idle pranks 
Besmeared an upright name. 

Each youthful trick that stirred the town 

Young John was sure to lead; 
And that such mischief was a crime 
The gossips all agreed. 

In college days these busy tongues 

Assailed his every thought; 
And all the hazings, so they said, 

Through Johnny's plans were wrought. 

Though high the rev' rend pastor stood 

In every village heart, 
They felt that any preacher's son 

Must act the villain's part. 

They did not stop to ask how great 
Were Johnny's crimes in town, 

But merely deemed it in the mode 
To spread his ill renown. 

103 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



Then came a day remembered long, 
When through the village street 

Squire Baker's span of maddened greys 
Ran foaming, wild and fleet. 

And he who sprang to check their course, 
And save the Squire from death, 

Was fearless Johnny, whom the town 
Had scorned in every breath! 

They had not thought a preacher's son 

Such bravery could show. 
Because they clung to prejudice 

And never stopped to know! 



104 



The Invalid 



THE INVAUD 



Tired, torn and lonely, 

Weary and forlorn; 
Crying in the night-time 

For the coming morn. 

Tired, torn and lonely, 
Like the bending grain 

Waiting for the reaper; 
Lingering in pain. 

Tired, torn and lonely. 

Through the day and night; 
Watching for the beacon 

Of celestial light. 

Tired, torn and lonely. 

Desolate and drear ; 
Nothing now but Heaven 

For the future's cheer. 

Tired, torn and lonely, 

Clamoring for rest; 
For the peace eternal 

High among the blest. 

Tired, torn and lonely, 
Suffering, have no fear; 

God can bless and comfort. 
Heal and cherish here! 

105 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



IS HE A CHRISTIAN? 



Not far away Tom Smith resides, 
Unlearned in what the Church provides; 
Bound down to no Apostles' Creed, 
And prone to judge not word, but deed. 
It was not in the Sunday School 
That Tom imbibed the Golden Rule, 
And yet his friends as one agree 
There lives no better man than he! 

Since he to no high place was heir. 
He seldom heard a psalm or prayer ; 
For in his home the Church was seen 
As wealth's and fashion's far demesne. 
He fancied that the welldrest few 
Who weekly filled each costly pew, 
Cared not for others^ — baseless thought- 
Yet that was what his father taught. 

But churchless though our Tom remained, 
His charity was ne'er restrained; 
No friend in illness would he slight, 
Or leave till he had made him bright. 
The stricken widow blessed his name; 
The burned-out cotter felt the same; 
For each disaster, blow or grief 
Moved him to pity and relief. 

106 



Is He a Christian? 



Thus ever quick with help and grace, 
Tom Smith adorns his native place ; 
And though the church-rolls ne'er will hold 
His name, his heart is proven gold. 
And since so true he loves mankind, 
None doubts but that our Lord will find 
His acts all good, and place him high 
Some day within the crystal sky. 

Nor is Tom Smith a man apart 
With churchless mind and loving heart, 
For every village on the plain 
Of such can boast a num'rous train. 
And though the preacher oft may chide 
The gen'rous souls that stay outside, 
I know that God the cause will see, 
And bless them in eternity! 



107 



Poems of Mastery and Lcve Verse 



THE SIMPLE LIFE 



Oh, for a day in the country, 
In the open wide and clear; 

For the smell of the honeysuckle, 
For the humming-bird to hear! 

Oh, for a stroll in the valley, 
0*er the rocks and up the hill; 

For the breath of the lilac blcscoms, 
For the cry of the whip-poor-will! 

Oh, for the stilly twiight. 

For the evening clear and still; 

For the cricket's merry chirping. 
For the screech owl's call so shrill! 

Oh, for a day in the country; 

For the quiet early morn! 
Oh, for blessed respite 

From the sorrows life has borne! 

Oh, for the quiet hillside. 
For the restful, happy dell; 

For the homestead's blissful solace; 
For the peace I know so v/ell! 

108 



The Simple Life 



Sing to me now of the country, 

Of the simple life of old; 
Of the open book of Nature, 

And her wonders manifold. 

When my brief life is ended, 

And its trials ever past; 
Oh, carry me back to the country. 

Where rest may be mine at last. 

Lured by a wild ambition, 

From the fields I loved of old, 

I turned to the teeming city. 

And the maddening strife for gold. 

Oft 'mid the ruthless struggle 
For the simple life I yearn; 

And back to the home of my boyhood 
My restless thoughts will turn. 

Yet though I long at moments 

To flee to the sylvan rest, 
The courage to dare and conquer 

Seems surely to me the best. 

For in the quiet country. 

There is yet no dearth of woe; 

Each hum^an life has its burden; 
For God has ordained it so. 

109 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



Oh, for the peaceful country, 

Where rest may make me strong! 

Then back again to my duty, 
To battle against the wrong. 

There at my post of duty, 

Amid the tumult and strife, 
Let me meet with courage and patience 

The changing lot of life. 



no 



Friends in Space 



FRIENDS IN SPACE 



Ah, friend, perhaps we've never seen 

Each other face to face; 
But if you've fought and suffered much, 

We're friends, though friends in space. 

If you have sought to cheer the sad. 

Or timely succor lend 
To fellow-mortal sore distressed. 

Be sure you are my friend! 



Ill 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



LONELY 

The weary years have passed along, 
Since that small grave was made ; 

I oft suspect life*s scheme is wrong, 
When joys so soon must fade. 

The patter of her little feet, 

Once busy all the day. 
Her tender call, to me so sweet. 

Are silent now for aye. 

The falling leaves upon her mound, 

The coverlet of snow 
Upon her grave, give forth no sound. 

But ah, to me not so! 

Elach falling leaf says she's not here; 

Each crystal of the snow 
Brings dirge-like music, sad and clear. 

To us, who loved her so. 

And now the house is desolate; 

The children pass my door. 
Where, darkly brooding o'er my fate, 

I ever yearn for more. 

112 



Lonely 



Of children's prattle, careless glee, 
For her and playmates gay; 

But she is gone ; and hence for me 
It's drear and dark today. 

As life for me has still been full 
Of sombre doubt and woe, 

I feel the silver death-cords pull; 
And soon, I too, shall go. 

And shall I meet my pet again? 

Ah, soon my soul shall know. 
Faith bids me trust amid my pain ; 

For God hath willed it so. 



itn 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



CHRISTMAS 

Of all the joys from far and wide, 

That come to crown the varied year, 
Most precious is the Christmas tide, 

The time of mirth and hearty cheer. 
Of all the mournful things we know — 

Alas, that this should ever be! — 
Most sad to see is childish woe. 

When Christmas comes, and brings no tree. 

No Christmas tree, no presents bright, 

No cheer or happy voices' hum. 
When children of the poor all night 

Wait Santa's call. He does not come. 
Oh, then the sad, sad Christmas time, 

When fondest dreams are doomed to blight! 
To little aching hearts what crime! 

When Santa did not come last night. 

In all this nation of the brave. 

With boundless wealth from sea to sea, 
Can there be found no way to save 

The little hearts such misery? 
While we with Christmas joys are glad. 

Shall we forget the hapless plight 
Of little hearts perplexed and sad? 

For Santa did not come last night. 

114 



Christmas 



Can we condemn in mood severe, 

If hearts are hardened, not to thaw. 
When little souls deprived of cheer 

Grow up to curse and break our law? 
When all around the signs they mark 

Of festal joys and blessings bright, 
For them life still is dull and dark; 

For Santa did not come last niofht. 



llr, 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



BORN AGAIN 



I had no joy in flowers, 

In dewdrop or in rain; 
No thought for shady bov/ers; 

Til I was born again. 

But now I love the rose, 

The blooms of hill and plain. 

And all that nature shows, 
Since I am born again. 

For idle joys I yearned, 

A.nd solemn thoughts gave pain; 
Until the truth I learned. 

And thus was born again. 

My life was filled v/ith pride. 
And all my thoughts were vain; 

I cared for none beside; 
'Til I was born again. 

I doubted Gcd's great love, 

A.nd mocked His righteous reign; 

Bvit now I look above. 
Since I am born again. 

So every soul is taught 
To seek the highest gain; 

And wiser grows our thought, 
When we are born again. 

113 



He Gladdened Some Child's Heart 



HE GLADDENED SOME CHILD'S HEART 



When life's vast book is opened, 

And all men's actions read, 
And angels pause for judgment 

Upon the silent dead; 
Of all the deeds recorded 

On golden scrolls apart, 
This one will count the highest — 

"He gladdened seme child's heart. 

To smooth the anxious furrows 

Of wisdom's aged brow, 
Or with the gospel message 

O'er distant seas to plough. 
Must rouse the v/atching angels 

To carols sweet and mild, 
Yet foremost of the blessed 

Is he who cheers a child. 

To mend a life of failure, 

Or halt a wayward son, 
Or of earth's sodden wretches 

To save the lowest one; 
All these are Christian labors 

Which none should shirk or miss, 
But oh, the greater service. 

To fill a child with bliss! 
117 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



To seek the lost and erring, 

Our great Redeemer came, 
And blessing little children 

Was part of His vast aim; 
When mothers brought their treasures, 

He bade them near Him stay. 
And blessed each soul among them. 

As we should do today. 

To lift a fallen woman, 

Reclaim a sinner vile. 
Or calm the broken-hearted; 

All these are worth our while. 
But I would have men praise me 

For God's sublimest art. 
And daily tell each other, 

"Fie gladdened some child's heart.'* 



118 



They Know Not What They Do 



THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO 



The Roman scourge was forty stripes; 

And each blow cut the flesh, 
'Til ev'ry scar, reopened, dripped 

With crimson blood afresh. 
Yet from that patient victim's lips, 

These words to heaven flew: 
"Father, forgive these erring souls; 

They know not what they do.'* 

And when the dreadful deed was done, 

No ruthful heart essayed 
Wirh unguent mild to soothe His pain; 

No hand was stretched to aid. 
They robed Him in a purple cloak, 

In bitter mockery. 
With jeers and taunts they led Him forth. 

For all the world to see. 

They crowned His sacred head with thorns, 

To mock His kingly claim. 
They sought to drag His stainless soul 

To lowest depths of shame. 
They struck Him roughly in the face ; 

Their rage to madness grew. 
With mild forgiveness He declared: 

"They know not what they do." 
119 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



And while He hung upon the cross, 

Their curses filled the air; 
The burden laid on Him seemed more 

Than mortal man could bear. 
Yet even deepest agony 

Moved not His holy mind 
To thought unworthy of the Christ, 

The Lover of Mankind. 

When death in darkest fcrm drew nig 

And faithful friends were few. 
The same sweet plea went up to God: 

**They know not what they do.*' 
That plea of Christ, the Master Love, 

Which triumphed o'er the grave, 
Has v/on rebellious hearts to peace; 

That plea the world will save. 



120 



Just Show Ycur Hands 



JUST SHOW YOUR HANDS 



A **little mother" of the street, 
Who early felt life's scorching heat, 
Who never had a doll or toy. 
Or in her short life found a joy; 
Who knew but hunger, filth and rags 
While others viewed their money bags, 
From overwork, on pauper's bed, 
Wasted and worn at tw^elve, lay dead. 
The nurse had given tender care — 
To the wan child a thing so rare — 
As in the ward the sick one lay 
Before her spirit passed away. 
She told the child of Christ, the Friend, 
Who would be with her till the end, 
But to the waif His very name 
Was strange, save as an oath of shame. 
Yet as she heard the sacred lore 
Her heart beat fast, as ne'er before, 

For Jesus' love her mind could reach 
Through the kind nurse's simple speech. 
Then, as beyond the world she gazed, 
Her piteous withered hand upraised. 
She asked the nurse what she should say 
To Christ upon the judgment day. 

121 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



She did not know He came to save; 
That love had sent Him to His grave; 
For all her sad distorted youth 
Was wasted far from gospel truth. 
The nurse bent o'er the dying child, 
And as through tears she sweetly smiled, 
Replied, "Dear heart, don't say a word; 
The deeds you've done, the Christ has heard. 
Your toil has all been for His sake, 
For Him you've suffered every ache; 
Just show your little careworn hand, 
And Christ will see and understand!" 

O, thou poor soul who ne'er may hear 
The world's applause or deafening cheer. 
Rest in this truth, that Christ will see 
Each act performed in charity. 
And if you cannot well prepare 
A sermon or a wordy prayer. 
Just show to Him your toilworn hands — 
For Christ has bled and understands ! 



12^ 



Let Me Be Kind 



LET ME BE KIND 



I pray for things I could not use; 

I pray for things I do not need. 
One prayer although my lips pronounce, 

My stubborn heart oft fails to heed. 

I pray: "Lord, make me ever kind.*' 
What nobler boon could I desire? 

But ah! how seldom do I reach 
The height to which I still aspire ! 

To friends around I should be kind, 

For those who blame, and knov/ me not, 

And do me wrong, my prayers are due. 
Oh, be those prayers no more forget! 

**Lord, make me kind to man and beast. 
To cradled babe and hairs of grey; 

Oh, may I not by word or deed 

Be aught but kind to all, I pray.'* 

**0 make me kind to friend and foe. 
To whcmsoe'er I meet or see; 

Make me to all a constant friend; 

O teach Thy kindness. Lord, to me." 

**If 1 have suffered WTong today. 
May I have courage to forgive. 

Lord, grant Thy grace, that evermore 
In thoughts of kindness I may live." 

123 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



CHRIST, THE UNIVERSAL MAN 



The world for centuries groaned v/ith pain, 

And men for comfort sought in vain; 

Tribe hated tribe, and over life 

Hung the black cloud of constant strife. 

The bitterness of racial spite 

Grew like the shades of gath'ring night. 

And generations came and went, 

Each state on power and murder bent. 

Though good men sometimes played their part, 

The world still sighed with heavy heart, 

Nor had the universal mind 

All tribes in peace to fuse and bind. 

Then came a babe in Bethlehem 

Who brought mankind a priceless gem, 

And lo! the hate was turned to love. 

With concord's star shown bright above! 

The force that mortals sought so long 
Came ushered in with joy and song. 
And brotherhood now takes the place 
Of hates that shook each suff' ring race. 
So shall the hearts of men be drawn 
Yet closer in the grovving dawn; 
Till hate's last dregs lie bruised and slain, 
And love assumes its deathless reign. 

124 



No Bad Weather 



NO BAD WEATHER 



The sunshine conies to bless and heal, 
Yet some will cry "Too hot!" 

It all depends on how you feel, 
And on your kind of thought. 

Refreshingly descends the rain, 
But some dislike the wet; 

Whether you find it joy or pain, 
Is as your heart is set. 

The wind has magic in its breath. 
But some to this are blind; 

It brings you songs of life or death 
According to your mind. 

So there's no weather truly bad, 

If mortals only knew it; 
Each kind in its own boons is clad — 

It's only how you view it! 



125 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



IN MEMORIAM 



So many sighs, so many tears, 

So many loved ones gone, 
So many heartaches through the years- 

But now for her the dawn. 

So many toils with scant reward, 

So many scars that bleed. 
So many roads, obscure and hard — 

From all at last she's freed. 

So many sighs, so m.any tears, 

So many clouds now past. 
So many doubts, so many fears — 

But peaceful rest at last. 

What is cur loss, is now her gain. 

Her work in life is done. 
She finds surcease from care and pain, 

Her crown of glory won. 



126 



Reward 



REWARD 

What if your plans have fallen through, 
And you have lost the fight? 

Work on the while, look up and smile — 
The day comes after night! 

What if the one you thought you loved 
Has torn your heart in two? 

A dearer friend that heart shall mend; 
Love yet will come to you! 

What if someone whom you have helped 

Proves faithless in the end? 
Your greater heart will bear the smart, 

And sweet forgiveness lend! 

Suppose ingratitude has struck 

With serpent's deadly guile? 
Don't stoop to vow with vengeful brow, 

But pause, forgive and smile! 



127 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



MY MOTHER 



Who sacrificed her all for me? 

My mother! 
Who gave with spirit warm and free? 

My mother! 
Who guarded me from cradle days 
Through life's peqolexing, troubled ways, 
Indiff'rent to reward or praise? 

My mother! 

Who kissed the teardrops from my face? 

My mother! 
Who calmed my brow with gentle grace? 

My mother! 
Who soothed my childish soul to rest, 
And rocked me close against her breast, 
The v/hile her arms were 'round me pressed? 

My mother! 

Who had no pleasure save in mine? 

My mother! 
Who helped me win with heart benign? 

My mother! 
Who worked for me through every gale, 
In spirit firm, in body frail, 
'Til rosy cheeks grew seamed and pale? 

My mother! 

128 



My Mother 



Who freely gave the best she had? 

My mother! 
Who trained aright her little lad? 

My mother! 
And who today no longer fears, 
But reaps rewards for all the tears 
She shed through lean and anxious years? 

My mother! 



129 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



TRUST 

I know why once the desert wind 

Beat o'er my pathway so; 
And why no safety I could find 

As on I stumbled slow; 
Too much I left to my proud will, 

Too oft I said *'l must;" 
I would not list to **Peace, be still,'* 

Nor would I wait and trust. 

But since I learned God's law supreme. 

And trusted to His power, 
The desert is a distant dream. 

And roses are in flower; 
The wind no more my way distracts. 

But fans me soft and warm. 
For trust gives strength to all our acts, 

And wipes out every storm. 



180 



Poems of 
War and Peace 



Somewhere in France 



SOMEWHERE IN FRANCE 



Somewhere in France a father sleeps; 
Somewhere a stricken mother weeps; 
Somewhere his watch the vulture keeps; 

Somewhere in France. 
Somewhere a soldier breathes his last; 
Somewhere his corpse to winds is cast; 
Somewhere an army marches past; 

Somewhere in France. 

Somewhere its bolt has ruin sped; 
Somewhere Vvdth tears are children fed; 
Somewhere all hope from hearts has fled; 

Somewhere in France. 
Somewhere is life but bitter jest; 
Somewhere comes death, a welcome guest; 
Somewhere men pray in vain for rest ; 

Somewhere in France. 

Somewhere is heard the cannons' roar; 
Somewhere the stricken death implore; 
Somewhere the heart can bear no more ; 

Somewhere in France. 
Somewhere a nation groans with pain; 
Somewhere her valiant sons lie slain; 
Somewhere she braves the foe again; 

Somewhere in France. 
133 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



OLD GLORY 



Our Native Soil for freedom stands, 
Old Glory here unfurled on high; 

Yon crimson bar our heart commands, 
Yon starry field outshines the sky! 

Our Flag shall ever wave in might, 
A guardian of the free and brave; 

With Justice deathless as the light; 
Unharmed by foe, unsoiled by slave. 

Columbia's knee hath never bent 
To martial gods for selfish greed; 

Her noble spirit rests content 

To ease the footsore wand'rer*s need. 

Here equal rights all men reward; 

Each owns an equal path to fame; 
Eternal hope and fond accord 

Shed lustre on Columbia's name. 

The march of centuries to be 
Increasing glories shall display; 

Our land shall ever bless the free. 
Our Flag triumphant lead the way. 

Then wave, Old Glory, proud on high, 
Whose folds are free from greed and lust 

There silhouetted 'gainst the sky — 

The Flag that ne'er hath trailed in dust ! 

134 



No Hymn of Hate for the U. S. A. 



NO HYMN OF HATE FOR THE U. S. A, 



We'll laud Old Glory to the skies 

In pride and ecstasy; 
Recall our hist'ry of the past, 

And heroes brave and free; 
For valiant deeds and wars we've waged 

Our ardor won't abate. 
We'll sing our Nation's Anthem but 

We won't sing hymns of hate! 

The names of great Americans 

We'll honor, praise and sing. 
And with our record of the past 

We'll make the welkin ring. 
For ev'ry deed that's made us proud 

Our ardor won*t abate. 
We'll sing our Nation's Anthem but 

We won't sing hymns of hate ! 

We'll think our thoughts and have our say 

For right and liberty; 
We'll stand our ground, defend our homes, 

Whate'er the price may be. 
We'll spur ourselves to do and dare 

And bravely meet our fate! 
We'll sing our Nation's Anthem but 

We won't sing hymns of hate ! 

135 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



The battles that we've fought and won 

Upon the Tand and sea ; 
The w^ars we've waged ; the blood w^e' ve spilt 

To make our people free, 
We'll megaphone and cymbal loud — 

Our ardor won't abate — 
We'll sing our Nation's Anthem but 

We won't sing hymns of hate ! 



136 



Pickett's Brave Command 



PICKETT'S BRAVE COMMAND 

For two long days at Gettysburg 

The battle raged apace ; 
Then came the call to Pickett's men 

The Union guns to face. 
They saw the fiery rain that poured 

In fury from above; . i j ^u 

And knew that they must strive with death 

For all that men most love. 

They sighed farewell to home and kin, 

As fiercer flashed the flame 
Of deadly shell and canister, 

Which ever nearer came. 
Then *Torward!" rang the stern command; 

And instant at the call. 
They rushed to face that fiery hell. 

To conquer or to fall. 

Before them roared the Union guns 

And poured their showers of lead; 
Yet still unchecked the thinning ranks 

Moved on with steady tread. 
The sudden fence that barred their path 

They climbed in order due; 
Though o'er their heads the fatal ram 

Of bullets thicker grew. 



m 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



Still onward moved the dauntless ranks, 

Across the death-strewn plain; 
While martial music filled the air 

With soul-inspiring strain. 
The Union guns in thunder-tones 

Crashed out their message dire; 
But not a man was found to quail 

Before that hail of fire. 

Though few are found, the numbers now 

Of that devoted band, 
No power could check the headlong charge 

Of Pickett's brave command. 
What though the foremost warriors fell? 

Their comrades pressed behind; 
And on they marched to certain death, 

The bravest of mankind. 

Straight to the cannons' mouths they marched, 

As to the jaws of hell; 
And hand to hand in deadly strife 

They battled and they fell. 
'Gainst fearful odds they gained the Ridge, 

And pierced the Union line; 
For more than human courage seemed 

Within their hearts to shine. 

*'Now hold the place!" 'Twas not their will 
Nor valor that could fail; 

138 



Pickett's Brave Command 



But ah! too few of Pickett's men 

Were left to tell the tale. 
But though they might not keep the post, 

Their noble courage won, 
The memory of their deed shall live 

While time its course shall run. 

*t* **• •It *t* 

Though North and South in union true 
Now join with heart and hand, 

Yet blazoned high on honor's scroll 
Is Pickett's Brave Command. 



139 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



NOW THE GREAT WAR IS OVER 



Now the great war is over — the direst of all — 

We are striving to better the age; 
We are heartsick and faint from the curse and the 
taint, 

And are turning a new, cleaner page. 

Now the great war is over, the new page will teach 

That reason is better than blood. 
And we'll bid battle cease in a vision of peace, 
With justice to stay the red flood. 

Now the great war is over, we'll tr}^ for less need 

Of our navies and cannon and forts ; 
With struggle made sick and pierced through to the 
quick, 

We'll be ready for treaties and courts. 

Now the great war is over, our minds may discern 
The vast blessings of peace and its fruits; 

And we'll own that at last all the glory is past 
For brass buttons and olive-drab suits. 

Now the great war is over, we know with full force 

The horror and shame of the fight. 
And to ease our disgust we will seek to be just, 

And work ever for peace, love and right. 

Now the great war is over, our thoughts will ascend 

To the glories of commerce and art, 
So with resolute face let us kill war's disgrace, . 

And within the new age do our part. 

"l40 



The Handwriting on the Wall 



THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL 



** Weighed and found wanting" is the tale the an- 
cient balance told, 

And now another balance tells the selfsame tale of 
old; 

For years of pain and death have pointed out the 
war lords' fall, 

And traced in Europe's blood is their handwriting 
on the wall! 

Though men of business, art and toil had long dis- 
coursed of peace, 

And sought in reason's name to win from war a 
long release, 

The hates of thrones revealed them still within their 
rulers' thrall — 
But for those rulers now appears the writing on 
the wall. 

What strong men want, they're sure to have, be it 

a peace or war; 
And so the will of kings drew down the wicked 

flood of gore. 
While throngs talked peace, the warlike kings 

wished ruin on us all, 
So now they shake at seeing their handwriting on 

the wall. 

141 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



Our lesson learned, we'll think of peace with un- 
divided mind, 

Nor let the tinsel sham of pomp our steady vision 
blind. 

We'll bid the war lords quit their thrones, and from 
the nations crawl. 

Obedient to the dawning truth — the writing on the 
wall. 

Our talk is now of brotherhood, no longer of the 

sword. 
For reason finds the curse of war too heavy to 

afford ; 
The royal trumpets nevermore to useless frays may 

call. 
Since kings at last have witnessed their handwriting 

on the wall! 



142 



Another Sinkine: 



ANOTHER SINKING 



** Another battle-cruiser sunk today.'* 

Thus runs the news, while countless thousands pray 

That gory rulers, moved by greed alone. 

May soon by reason's hand from power be thrown. 

Down with them all — a curse on each crowned head 

That cares not for the living or the dead! 

* 'Another battle-cruiser sunk today." 
Sunk by a mine or U-boat in the bay. 
A stir, a shock, a crash that tells the tale; 
Destruction hurled without a warning hail ; 
Quick and relentless doom; no time to flee, 
Or save the lives that struggle in the sea; 
No time to send a word to those at home — 
Thus sink a thousand men beneath the foam. 
Tonight they rest in bowers of tangled weed. 
While o'er the lands the kings their armies lead; 
The living fight, and swell the ranks of slain, 
And menace leers on every smoking plain. 
Debts for the future mount, and heap with care 
New generations yet to breathe the air; 
Shackles of shame are forged by foolish hate, 
And false ideals bind each hapless state. 

143 ' 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



* 'Another battle-cruiser sunk today.*' 

The same dull incident of ceaseless fray; 

Another vessel v^ith her stricken crew 

Swept from our horror-satiated view. 

Men plunged to death, and homes in mourning 

thrown ; 
Wives, mothers, daughters, doomed to weep and 

moan ; 
Death, desolation, dreariness, disgust; 
Joy to the war lords, anguish to the just; 
Unholy clamor dragged frcm Hell's black fen. 
The sport of monarchs, and the bane of men; 
Such are the ills that prompt us all to sign 
The war lords' doom, and curse each purpled line; 
Such are the wrongs that outraged subjects know, 
And knowing, bid ambitious tyrants go. 

* 'Another battle-cruiser sunk today." 
Proof of a despot's harsh, unfeeling sway; 
Proof of the power that reckless hurls about 
The lives of men, and snuffs brave thousands out. 
Shall this endure? Shall knaves preserve the right 
To bleed the suffering world a lethal white? 
Not while grave Justice rules the pitying skies. 
Or man recalls the precepts of the wise: 
The time is here — the fateful die is cast — 
And blocd-stained rulers must resign at last! 



144 



The Profanity of War 



THE PROFANITY OF WAR 



"A German army annihilated.** — News item, 
December 1914. 

Napoleon, when told that his futile attempt on 
Moscow had cost him a miliion soldiers, replied: 
"What care I for the lives of a million men?" That 
sentiment prevailed gruesomely among the war- 
devils of 1 9 1 4- 1 9 1 8. 

A whole vast army shot away; 

Two thousand men mowed down to death I 
Yet war lords keep their fiendish sway, 

And laugh in scorn beneath their breath. 

A mighty army gone to hell. 

But more are led to take their place ; 

They march into the shot and shell, 
And fall as martyrs for the race. 

The tyrants drive their slaves ahead, 
And goad them till with crying word 

The foe seeks mercy — then the dead 
Are trodden by another herd. 

**Lead on! Lead on! ye men of steel 
Who know the scars that lead provides; 

Kill, damn you, kill *em — or you'll feel 
More bullets in your human hides ! 

145 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



**You all are mine — mine and my sons' — 
You're only made to fight and slay; 

You give the blocd, 1 give the guns; 
Who cares how many fall today? 

"I rule the land by right divine; 

Your cursed bodies are my own ; 
So march, and with your life-blood sign 

The deed that saves for me my throne! 

**To hell with men — the common sheep 
That all were born to die for me; 

The animals that rot to keep 
My royal power from peril free! 

"Curse on until the air is blue 

With yells and screams and howls profane 
By Christ! to see this damned hell through 

Takes toughened guts and hardened brain! 

*'So on to fight! And swear until 
For life you don't give merry hell; 

What care I if bullets kill 

You all? New men will do as well!" 

Would that these lords of war might hear 
Christ's voice beyond the smoky sky; 

For hate and oaths depart in fear 

When our Redeemer hovers nigh! 

146 



Business Men, Awake 



BUSINESS MEN, AWAKE! 



If business men would do all things 

To stop the battle's raging, 
We'd find much fewer lords and kings 

In murder's art engaging. 

For business feeds the noxious ranks, 

Unholy vigor giving; 
'Tis powder, vessels, guns and tanks 

That keep the monster living. 

Such power for good should be employed; 

Soon should we see its using; 
Commerce is king, and sin*s black void 

Should mend with its infusing. 

Awake, ye men of desk and chair! 

Think of your strength in season! 
Be proud that you unaided bear 

The key to peace and reason! 

So raise your hands to banish war; 

Work not for fiends and maimers; 
And tongues will hail you near and far 

As first of man's reclaimers! 



147 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



SINK TO DEATH BUT BE COOL 



When the British dreadnaught Formidable went 
down in a storm during the great war, crushed like 
an eggshell by torpedoes or mines ; her commander, 
Capt. Loxley, was on the bridge as she sank, and 
his last words were: "Steady, men, it's all right; 
keep cool; do not get in a panic; be British.** 

Keep steady, boys, for all is well; 

Like men sink down to death; 
Among you let no panic dwell. 

Nor gasp a coward's breath. 

For us the little game is o'er. 

The flesh no more enslaves, 
But let us show our grit once more 

And scorn the swallowing waves. 

Death does not matter, for the fault 

Is surely not our own; 
*Tis others who must call a halt 

To ills so mighty grown. 

Our part to die unmoved, for we 
To that stern task were bred; 

The future only may be free 
From war's engulfing dread. 

Another age must grant the crown 
To those who build, not slay; 

So let us as we calmly drown 
For that glad future pray. 

148 



If Not Burned They Stink 



IF NOT BURNED THEY STINK 



'Trains which we call cemetery trains, full of 
piled-up dead soldiers, continue to arrive from the 
front. They contain bundles of dead; that is, four 
bodies tied together to facilitate transportation. 
The bodies are burned promptly in special furnaces 
erected just outside Brussels." — News item of the 
Great War 

Stink nobly, ye valiant and brave, 
For the lot will be burned tonight; 

There is not enough space for a grave. 
And no time for a funeral rite. 

Stink foully, ye things that were men, 

You've been slaughtered and dead too long; 

And it matters not how or when 
You add zest to the oven's song. 

Stink proudly, ye bundles of dead, 

Too many to burn one by one; 
We will tie you in bales, foot and head, 

*Til the furnaces' feast is begun. 

Stink sourly, ye stiffening things. 

Tied four in a bundle to rot; 
Ye pliable victims of kings. 

Sent joyously out to be shot. 

149 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



Stink boldly, and try to recall 

When life filled your carrion veins. 

How glorious with might was your fall! 
How sightly the mess that remains! 

Stink deadly, ye guardians of right; 

Stink deadly, ye cohorts of crime; 
All victims of pitiless might, 

Left to die in the m.ud and the slime. 

Stink sweetly, ye hopes of the state. 
Rewarded for all you have wrought; 

You were born for this patriot's fate. 
And to make it secure you have fought. 

Stink madly, for that is your part; 

The war-devils planned it in bliss; 
Nor fret if we sicken at heart 

To see you ground under like this. 

Stink! Stink! When will merciful minds 
Pull us out of this hell of caprice; 

Pull us out of the struggle that blinds, 
To the sunlight of reason and peace? 



IGO 



The Birthday Present 



THE BIRTHDAY PRESENT 



*Twas cold in the trenches of bleak frozen mud, 
And torture and death stalked the line; 

But with songs every soldier of good German blood 
Hailed the Kaiser — just turned fifty-nine. 

**Your birthday we greet, gracious Lord of the Land, 
And to prove our devotion we'll slay 

All the foemen that here on the wooded heights 
stand, 
Obstructing 3^our proud royal way. 

**We'll add to your lands as a present tonight; 

No repulse shall diminish our zeal; 
Or should nothing succeed in the desperate fight, 

With a present of dead men we'll kneel. 

**A gift for the Kaiser, cur Ruler and Lord, 
To the tune of the bugle's shrill call; 

Another attack with the gun and the sword, 
And the heap of dead Germans that fall." 

** 'Tis your birthday, O King, and v/e wish to be 
true. 
For we know you will smile if we win ; 
So we leap on the foeman to break his line through. 
And exult in the good German din. 

151 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



**We must honor the day, so let each man charge 
on; 

Let us charge till the smoke hangs o*erhead; 
With our lives we are free, be the fight lost or won; 

\Ve*re your gift — whether living or dead. 

'*And when night finds us moaning, repulsed and 
subdued. 
With our weary and wounded and killed. 
We are good Germans yet, for we did what we 
could 
That your birthday with joy might be filled." 

So the fast-aging Kaiser looked down at the heap 
Of grey bodies that dumbly remained; 

And I fancy that night he was troubled in sleep 
As he thought of the present he gained ! 



152 



Unknown 



UNKNOWN 

** Unknown'* is what the tombstone said, 
That rose above the loyal dead. 

How many thousand graves are strewn 

O'er earth's vast bulk, and marked "Unknown)" 

The battle ceased, with thovisands dead; 
Above the heap **Unknown" was read. 

An anxious mother broods alone; 

Her boy was killed, and rests * 'Unknown." 

''Unknown" is part of war's dire toll; 
"Unknown" responds not to the roll. 

No loved one heard his dying moan; 

His lowly grave was marked "Unknown." 

"Unknown" they rest beneath the sky, 
While glutted vultures o'er them fly; 

Or rest in trenches buried deep, 

Or feed the flames; for who may keep 

The tale of all the brave "Unknown," 
Whose mangled limbs in heaps are thrown? 

153 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



But mothers* hearts are bleeding still, 
Since warlike kings must work their will. 

And children's tears and many a moan 
Pursue the fate of those ^'Unknown." 

Oh, God of holiness and peace. 

How long, how long ere war shall cease? 

How long ere earth from zone to zone 
Shall live in love, with no ''Unknown?'* 



154 



The Blasphemy of War 



THE BLASPHEMY OF WAR 



When lordly rulers crave for fame, 
Or seek to grab their neighbor's land, 

Too weak to play their own dark game. 
They bid their subjects lend a hand. 

Cleanliness 

In peace we value cleanliness; 

But little thought can soldiers spare 
For polished nails and spotless dress. 

When shrieking bullets fill the air. 

When stirring notes of fife and drum 
Give signal for the coming fray, 

Behold the eager soldiers come, 

While cheering thousands throng the way. 

In uniforms all fresh and bright, 
As proud defenders of the land, 

They pass before the dazzled sight. 
Unflinching in the field to stand. 

Mud 

But mark how soon the splendors fade. 
As onward move the marching files; 

How little like that trim parade, 
This weary trudging of the miles! 

155 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



With parching lips they cry for rain, 
And curse the grant of their desire, 

As struggling o'er the hated plain, 

They tramp to hell through muck and mire. 



Blood 

And now is heard the stern command 
To charge upon the ready foe; 

Now ghastly slaughter fills the land, 
And streams of blood begin to flow. 

The sickening smell of human gore 
Befouls the heart and clogs the brain; 

Makes brutes of what were men before. 
And brings all horrors in its train. 



Blasphemy 

With mud and blood and hissing shell, 
The frightful carnage spreads apace; 

Like fiery fiends from lowest hell, 

The maddened ranks their foemen face. 

Flesh torn to shreds and mangled bones; 

With ribs crushed in and lungs pierced through; 
Wild yells of hate and dying groans; 

While savage curses rise anew. 

156 



The Blasphemy of War 



Short hours ago in manhood's prime 
They stood beneath the smiling sky; 

But now besmeared with blocd and slime 
They gasp in mortal agony. 

Their ceaseless ravings fill the air; 

They curse their land, blaspheme their fate 
They rage in impotent despair; 

Their souls are blind to all save hate. 

With bleeding veins and gaping wounds, 
All that the soldiers hear and see 

Are sights of hell and monstrous sounds, 
With mud and blocd and blasphemy. 

No more of glory let us prate; 

No better fruits of war may be 
Than evil rage and reckless hate, 

With mud and blood and blasphemy! 



157 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



ALL EUROPE IS TRAMPING TO WAR 



Tramp! tramp! tramp! 

The soldiers are marching away. 

The host moves on to the deadly fray, 

With a sure and steady tread. 
Today, we cheer the marching band; 
Tomorrow, gloom falls on the land; 

For the heroes who lie dead. 
Tramp! tramp! tramp! 

For none may rest but the dead. 
Tramp! tramp! tramp! 

Tramp! tramp! tramp! 

The soldiers are marching along. 

They move to death in a fearless throng, 

As they heed their country's call. 
From north and south, from east and west, 
Come forth the bravest and the best. 

To the field where the foremost fall. 
Tramp! tramp! tramp! 

Though thousands fight but to fall. 
Tramp! tramp! tramp! 



158 



All Europe Is Tramping to War 



Tramp! tramp! tramp! 

The soldiers are marching today. 

They're facing peril without disma3^ 

And the end may none foretell. 
Today the world is one red plain, 
Where men must slay or straight be slain ; 

For war is the door to hell. 
Tramp! tramp! tramp! 

For earth is turned into hell. 
Tramp! tramp! tramp! 



159 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



BURNING THE DEAD 



(During the war, bodies were burned promptly 
in special furnaces erected just outside Brussels.) 



Flare, swish, creak and bang; 

Grimy men in business stern; 
Ghoulish and mad the oven sang. 

As they threw the bodies in to burn. 

Flare, swish, creak and bang; 

Stolid faces that never turn; 
Brutes shoveled flesh with never a pang 

As they threw the bodies in to burn. 

Flare, swish, creak and bang; 

Ashes pile up in the hideous urn; 
Echoes of hell in the furnace rang 

As they threw the bodies in to burn. 



160 



The Soldier's Fate 



THE SOLDIER'S FATE 



There were several reports that soldiers of oppos- 
ing armies, whose trenches had been thrust out near 
each other, exchanged first, shouts of greeting, then 
presents they hurled through the air, and in one or 
two cases they even crawled over to smoke and 
chat with the enemy's outposts. 

— News Item of the Great War. 



If nations cannot live at peace, 

With Reason for their guide; 
But men must fall on bloody fields 

To feed their ruler's pride; 
If we to gain our needed ends 

In deadly strife must vie. 
Let's smoke awhile and talk as friends 

Before we go to die. 

If I must stand and shoot at you 

With fell intent to slay. 
That's only part of savage war. 

The game that monarchs play. 
If I with heart that anguish rends 

To take your life must try. 
Let's smoke awhile and talk as friends 

Before we go to die. 
161 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



We're called to fight a bloody war, 

Though much against our will ; 
We're forced to slay our fellow-men, 

Who never wrought us ill. 
But though in vain our prayer ascends 

When oft for peace we sigh. 
Let's smoke awhile and talk as friends 

Before we go to die. 

I know that we have no desire 

To take each other's life. 
But soldiers ever must obey 

The fatal call to strife. 
Since we must fight when monarch sends, 

Not even knowing why. 
Let's smoke awhile and talk as friends 

Before we go to die. 



162 



Hell's Turned Loose 



HELL'S TURNED LOOSE 



*Twas **heavy fighting all along the way, 
With no advance yet gained" — but still the fray 
Raged madly on, in pits of putrid mud 
With deadly shrapnel spattering flesh and blood. 
Death follows death, as 'neath the lethal guns 
Fall anguished heroes — husbands, sires, and sons — 
While grief, o'erspreading all, throws grisly hands 
O'er lonely hearths in all the stricken lands. 
Unholy laughter shakes the Fiend's domain. 
For Hell's turned loose when warlords rule the 
plain ! 

'Twas **heavy fighting all along the way, 
With no decisive battle won," yet day 
O'er crimson fields in chilly anguish dawned, 
And saw the scars where noxious craters yawned: 
Glowed on the rotting dead, and beaming far, 
Showed all the grief and misery of war. 
The soldiers slain, the money madly spent. 
The wreck of homes, and famine's wide extent: 
The pining mothers, sisters, maids and wives. 
Wan with the agony of shattered lives. 
Vast nations mourn their sons, a piteous train, 
For Hell's turned loose when war lords rule the 
plain ! 

163 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



'Twas "heavy fighting all along the way; 
No victory that counts" — yet millions pay. 
In gruesome piles the charnel victims lie, 
While smoke and stenches vex the sickened sky ; 
Hunger and carnage ghoulish reign around, 
And terror stalks o'er desolated ground: 
Bodies rot stiff, or burn in hasty heaps, 
And pestilence its febrile vigil keeps; 
Dissevered limbs, intestines bared to view, 
And yet more nameless things, the meadows strew. 
For instant rest the living dead man begs. 
Mourning his missing jaw, or nose, or legs; 
Abnormal horrors daze the sinking soul; 
Unnatural sounds from throat and cannon roll; 
Homes, farms, and towns in blazing ruin fall, 
Whilst mounds of foetid shapes uncovered sprawl ; 
Forms that were loved now stretch inert and prone, 
Or spatter o'er the mud, to pieces blown. 
Nations grow bankrupt, starving thousands seek 
Crumbs of stale bread, and totter worn and weak; 
Hate rides the wind, and poisons sun and rain, 
For Hell's turned loose when war lords rule the 
plain ! 

'Twas "heavy fighting all along the way; 
No point of vantage gained" — yet Satan's sway 
Untarnished bows the nations to the dust. 
With glee for him, and anguish for the just. 

164 



Hell's Turned Loose 



Demoniac revels desecrate the night, 
And mock the names of reason, peace and right; 
Ecstatic howl that might and greed must still 
Leer o'er the race, and wreak unending ill. 
Afrites of Eblis join the shocking strain, 
For Hell's turned loose when war lords rule the 
plain ! 

Since war lords fail, why can we not instead 
Choose Christ to guide us as we strain ahead; 
The Christ whose love to every man extends. 
And who alone can turn our foes to friends? 
His power divine can every hate dispel. 
And peaceful teach the neighb'ring states to dwell; 
Give Him allegiance, and the right will reign. 
For Hell will cease when Jesus rules the plain! 



165 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



BELGIUM HAS COVERED HERSELF WITH 
GLORY 



Belgium has covered herself with glory! 

But what about her men? 
No praise for deeds in battle gory 

Can e'er redeem her losses, when 
Her young and brave are shot away; 
When harvest, cattle, horses, hay 
Are gone, and millions to be fed. 
Say, what about her noble dead, 

When you sing the song of glory? 

Germany has covered herself with glory ! 

But what about her dead? 
No Iron Cross nor stirring story 

Can heal the bodies torn by lead. 
Her sons are dead; her children moan; 
Her widows and her mothers groan. 
Six million mouths now scantly fed! 
Say, what about her loyal dead. 

When you make the plea of glory? 

The Allies have covered themselves with glory! 

But what about their lost? 
'Tis ever the old, cruel story — 

The living pay the fearful cost. 
The dead may sleep, nor know the pain 
Of anguished hearts that here remain. 
Each land may curse the roaring guns. 
Say, what about her murdered sons, 

When you pass the cup of glory? 
166 



The Belgium Bread Line 



THE BELGIUM BREAD UNE 



"Belgium is one long bread line of starving men, 
women and children, clamoring for a single ration 
of bread and soup."— Theo. Waters, Secretary of 
The Christian Herald. 

**Give soup and bread, we pray," they said. 
We would not ask for soup and bread." 
"Could we have back our sacred dead, 

All Brussels cries for soup and bread. 
"But oh! could we call back our dead, 
We'd ask no more for soup and bread.*' 

All Antwerp wails for soup and bread; 
But give them back their precious dead. 
They'll ask no more for soup or bread. 

All Belgium moans for food, for bread; 
"Graves everywhere; our sons are dead;^^ 
Give back our men, and keep your bread." 

God, who of old Thy people led, 

Let men know Christ who is not dead. 

And they shall feed on living bread. 



167 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



ANYWHERE IN EUROPE 



Anywhere in Europe you'll hear the helpless weep! 
Anywhere in Europe the Reapers vigils keep! 
Anj^where in Europe how many pray for sleep ! 
Anywhere in Europe! 

Anywhere in Europe the imps of battle leap ! 
Anywhere in Europe man's blood is running deep! 
Anywhere in Europe the shades of sorrow creep! 
Anywhere in Europe! 

Anywhere in Europe is stripped old Satan's mask! 
Anywhere in Europe the imps of Hades bask! 
Anywhere in Europe it's worse than demon's task! 
Anywhere in Europe! 

Anywhere in Europe a nightmare's awful blast! 
Anywhere in Europe the blood of man flows fast! 
Anywhere in Europe — shall this war be the last? 
Anywhere in Europe? 



168 



Prepare — But What? 



PREPARE— BUT WHAT? 



Why not prepare, prepare our brains 
Instead of might and brawn; 

For if we don't some others will — 
The reign of Peace shall Dawn. 

Prepare, prepare! O yes, prepare, 
But how? Here let us pause — 

Prepare our heads, prepare our brains 
For International Laws. 



160 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



HAS CHRISTIANITY FAILED? 



Christianity, say you, has failed! 

Ah, friend, it has never been tried. 
Though loudly we've preached and we've prayed, 

I fear that we often have lied. 
We vowed that like God we would give 

Our love both to friends and to foes ; 
But ever the deed of our lives 

The words of our lips would oppose. 

We claimed to be Christians indeed; 

But little we lived of the truth. 
Though Christian in name, in our lives 

We seemed more like heathen, forsooth. 
The spirit of Christ we have lost; 

And little our words have availed. 
We flout Him in plan and in act, 

And then say 'tis Christ who has failed. 

Why say that Christ's teachings have failed, 

When none of them yet has been tried? 
How dare we the Master reproach, 

When we've put His doctrine aside? 
When Christ is our guide, and our creed 

Is service to God and to man, 
No horror like war can arise. 

To thwart His beneficent plan. 
170 



Has Christianity Failed? 



'Tis we who have failed to apply 

The lesson of Calvary's cross. 
We've spurned the pure gold of His Word, 

And counted His teaching but dross. 
It is not the Christ who has failed; 

For His is the one perfect way. 
'Tis error and pride in our hearts 

Which lead us so often astray. 

When Christ is the Master of earth, 

And holds in our hearts the first place, 
As true Prince of Peace He will reign, 

And war-thoughts forever efface. 
So blame not this holiest Guide, 

That men have distorted His creed; 
But strive that the day may arrive 

When all men His teaching shall heed. 



17.1 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



EVERYBODY'S ROOTING FOR UNCLE SAM 



We all are strong for Uncle Sam, 
And praise his sane pacific ways, 

For he is out to kill the sham 
Of war's delusive fitful blaze. 

Each man of us is rooting loud 
As Uncle Sam in council reigns, 

And with his wisdom, firm and proud. 
Condemns each nation's martial strains. 

We all can see that his clean might 
Will sway the millions to his side. 

For progress, justice, peace, and right. 
And all the boons therewith allied. 

So here' re three cheers for Uncle Sam! 

The great example for the world; 
Who sees the banner of the Lamb 

Beside the Stars and Stripes unfurled! 



172 



Admiral George Dewey 



ADMIRAL GEORGE DEWEY 



"Twas not the name of Commodore 

That made this hero great ; 
No title waked our rev' rent love 

Nor "chance" nor time nor fate. 

For Dewey had within his breast 

A heart that made a Man, 
The trinity that all must have: — 

I dare, I will, I can! 

For long before victorious fate 

Gave Dewey his renown. 
The MAN within his noble breast, 

Placed on his head a crown. 

A King is not a King because 
He bears a monarch's name, 

A Hero may not be a Man 

Though he be bright with fame. 

Our Dewey was a deathless soul 

No nobler may we scan 
For in his dauntless heart were found 

The Hero and the man. 

And in the land where now he roams, 

That noble Spirit will 
(Because he was a man at heart) 

Rank as a Leader still. 
173 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



BUFFALO BILL 



**Col. Ccdy was always, we are told, a friend 
of the American boy. He was known to receive an 
average of fifteen or twenty letters every day from 
boys all over the globe, with whom he maintained 
a lively correspondence, telling them of his experi- 
ences and adventures.*' 

The fame of Colonel Cody, 

Our brave old Buffalo Bill, 
Will circle round the world for aye, 

Though now his heart is still. 

He killed the v/ily buffalo; 

He lived a pioneer, 
He slew the crafty Indian 

As calmly as a deer. 

This sturdy scout of Sheridan 

Has fame we rarely scan ; 
The gamut full of chivalry 

And daring deeds, he ran. 

174 



Buffalo Bill 



He hewed his way from poverty 
To eat with Lords and Kings ; 

He glorified our Western life, 
And still his tribute rings. 

But high above his other fame 
His love for boys will stand; 

Example of simplicity, 
A symbol of our Land. 



175 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



AMERICA'S PRAYER 



God of our sires, who led them on, 
To plant true freedom here, 

Make us so strong in faith of peace, 
There'll be no war to fear. 



176 



Light Verse 



Why Is a Bachelor? 



WHY IS A BACHELOR? 



The question, "Why are bachelors?'* 

Has often crossed my mind; 
And sometimes 1 have worried been 

For great men left behind. 
In reading over history, 

My worry now I drop, 
And come to this conclusion sound: 

They were afraid to **pop.'* 

For instance, take the mighty Pitt; 

So deeply did he woo. 
He drank the health of one he loved 

From her own dainty shoe. 
His only bride his country dear. 

And he her firmest prop; 
Yet surely he had married been, 

But lacked the nerve to pop. 

Then look at Alexander Pope; 

A dozen loves he had; 
And every time his heart was touched. 

It seemed he would go mad. 
And passion's frenzy fired his brain. 

His head spun like a top; 
And yet he was a celibate. 

For lacking nerve to pop. 
179 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 

And Buckle likewise might have wed 

The maid he called his *'dear", 
But could not keep a wife upon 

Three thousand pounds a year. 
Hence he remained a bachelor; 

And there his suit did stop; 
Because this great historian 

Had not the nerve to pop. 

And witty David Hook e*en sent 

Proposal once by mail; 
But e'er it reached his lady's hand, 

His courage seemed to fail. 
And so this man of great renown 

His letter straight did stop, 
Because although he loved her well. 

Had not the nerve to pop. 

And Gibbon his Susanna loved, 

Like most devoted swain; 
And when he gave her up, we're told. 

He never loved again. 
But when his father, stiff and stern, 

Bade him his suit to drop, 
He yielded to the harsh command. 

And dared not even pop. 

Again, take Horace Walpole's case, 

He never could decide. 
Among the many whom he loved, 

Which one to choose for bride. 

180 



Why Is a Bachelor? 



His heart, in sore confusion mazed, 
This way and that would flop ; 

And just because he loved them all, 
He never dared to pop. 

Now David Hume was bolder far. 

He tempted once his fate ; 
And to the lady of his heart 

He put the question straight. 
But when she said: "It cannot be," 

His heart to earth did drop; 
And there it rested, cowed and weak; 

No more he dared to pop. 

Quite other v/as Beau Brummel's course. 

He really asked to wed; 
But shrinking from the chances grave. 

Broke off the match instead. 
So like the other trembling swains, 

Away in panic hopped 
Our dandified old bachelor. 

Although he really popped. 

The question, "Why are bachelors?" 

Has often crossed my mind; 
And sometimes I've been worried sore 

For great men left behind. 
In reading over history, 

My worry now I drop, 
And come to this conclusion sound: 

They were afraid to pop. 
181 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



WHY MAN IS BALD 



Why man is bald, has puzzled him 
For long and weary years ; 

And it has caused much querying, 
And many sighs and tears. 

Why is he bald? I know the why, 

And quickly will relate 
The reason he is short of hair 

On top of his bald pate. 

It*s not this here heredity, 
Nor dandruff, nor disease, 

Because a hatband is too tight. 
Tight scalp — no, none of these. 

A man is bald, 1 know the why ; 

And here I will declare ; 
He's bald because, if you must know. 

He's minus any hair. 



182 



The Talkative Barber 



THE TALKATIVE BARBER 



*Tm here to have a shave today, 
A quick one, if you please. 

I have to meet a friend at once.'* 
**Yes, it is sure to freeze." 

*'I want a shave, 1 tell you, man, 
Without this pomp and feather!" 

And lo! he loiters slowly round, 
And talks about the weather. 

**No hair-cut now, I'm in a rush; 

I have a train to make." 
''Perhaps you'll have a rub?" says he. 

**No, no, for heaven's sake! 

**A shave is all I want today; 

I really haven't time — " 
But here he cuts me off to urge: 

**A bath? The water's prime." 

Again I say: "No, just a shave!" 
(The time is fleeting fast). 

**What say you, if I dye your hair? 
This color sure will last." 
183 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



And then he adds, as slow ha works: 

A shampoo, sir, today?" 
*'No, no, I say, a shave is all.** 

**A manicure, you say? 

* 'Perhaps this tonic you might try, 
A brand new, special kind? 

No tonic? How about massage?'* 
**Not now, no, never mind." 

Before I'm shaved, and leave his chair, 
He's talked me deaf, to sell 

Something I didn't want at all, 
And lost my train as well. 

Next time I have a train to catch, 

I'll waste no time at all. 
But keep the v/hiskers on my face — 

Let him address the wall. 



184 



Short Skirts 



SHORT SKIRTS 



Let not our ladies cast away 
The dress of health and sense, 

And strut once more in trailing gowns 
At sanity's expense. 

The human form seeks space and air, 

Nor can it flourish sound 
With cumbering garments weighing down 

And sweeping o*er the ground. 

Short skirts a dragging weight remove. 

And leave the wearer free 
To walk unwearied, and to breathe 

Deeply and healthfully. 

With such free breath, the gentle sex 
Far fewer pains have known. 

For fresh air coursing through the lungs 
Brings strength to blood and bone. 

And more, the long skirt as it drags 
0*er streets with filth alloyed, 

Collects a horde of noxious germs 
That shorter skirts avoid. 

So flout the fashions, ladies fair — 
They shift in freakish spurts — 

And if you cannot take to kilts. 
Just stick to shorter skirts! 
185 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



FISHERMAN'S LUCK, OR JUST THE TRUTH 



Of all the fish the angler caught 

With trusty line and hook, 
The biggest one of which he tells 

Is still there in the brook. 

He had it surely safe and sound, 

Securely on his hook; 
When with a leap it broke away, 

And fell back in the brook. 

He never saw so huge a fish ; 

It nearly broke his hook! 
The biggest fish he ever caught 

Is still there in the brook. 

He had it on his line secure, 
To take right home and cook. 

But with a splash this biggest fish 
Fell back into the brook. 

Yep, six feet long; weighed fifty pounds; 

Could tell that by a look. 
The biggest fish he ever saw 

Is still there in the brook. 
186 



Fisherman's Luck, or Just the Truth 



*'Hey, boys, come here! see what I've got; 

It's swallowed all my hook! 
Oh pshaw! the biggest doggone fish 

Has fallen in the brook." 

He often caught the biggest fish 

E'er seen in stream or nook. 
But, dang the luck! this biggest fish 

Fell back into the brook. 

The biggest fish he ever caught. 

In trailing with a hook, 
The biggest one in all the world 

Is still there in the brook. 

Again he goes to try his luck, 
And tells his friends and cook; 

To catch again the biggest fish. 
But — leave it in the brook. 

Way up in Maine or far down South; 

The biggest he e'er took 
From lake or pond or running stream. 

Is still there in the brook. 

And so 'twill be while men do fish 

With net or seine or hook; 
The very biggest doggone fish 

Will still stay in the brook. 

187 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



VACATION TIME 



There's been an awful grind all year; 

You've toiled your level best, 
In office chair or **on the road"; 

And now you must have rest. 
You plan a splendid summer's trip, 

In some more balmy clime; 
To loaf at ease, and gather strength — 

You're sprinting all the time. 

You take the ship, and "fade away". 

You'll rest now sure enough; 
But hardly have you settled down. 

When up comes friend McDuff. 
A social game he'll have with you. 

No bids above a dime; 
You play until the sun is up — 

You're sprinting all the time. 

But when you reach your camping ground, 

Far from the maddening throng, 
You're sure you'll get that rest you need. 

Nor even play ping-pong. 
But straight you bump into some friends ; 

A mount they're bound to climb; 
Of course, you can't refuse to go — 

You're sprinting all the time. 

188 



Vacation Time 



You thought your daily drudgery 

Was strenuous and tough ; 
But now you waken all bunged up, 

And feeling mighty rough. 
In fact, you're more tired out by far 

Than 'mid the city's grime; 
You left your work to take a rest — 

You're sprinting all the time. 

Some things, you see, you quite forgot, 

In planning for your trip; 
That you would be kept on the run. 

No friend gave you the tip. 
For bathing beach and rowing boats. 

From morn till even chime. 
Still tempt you to indulge in all — 

You're sprinting all the time. 

Your time is up; and home you go. 

As tired as tired can be ; 
You call your doctor to consult. 

And pay a fancy fee. 
He looks you o'er, and feels your pulse; 

And then, in tones sublime, 
**You really need a rest," he says — 

You're sprinting all the time. 



189 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



BUYING A HAT 



''I'm here today to buy a hat, 
One that is worth the while. 

Oh, yes, Madame, I want the best — 
One that's right up to style! 

**A green effect? I'm not quite sure; 

Would green quite suit my gown? 
Perhaps a shade of green will do, 

If not, perhaps light brown. 

"If brown does not become my face 

Perhaps a shade of blue; 
Oh, yes, I've worn this shade before. 

And maybe it will do. 

**But if you please, I'd rather try 

A tint of red and pink — 
Oh, no, I never can wear that! 

What kind? Why, let me think! 

'*ril try this shade of green, I think. 

I did not want that kind? 
Perhaps, but don't you see, my dear, 

I often change my mind! 

190 



Buying a Hat 



*'No, that will never, never do! 

I'll try this one of grey — 
Oh, horrors! who would ever think 

I'd look that old today? 

* 'Suppose I try this one in black, 
With trimmings front and side — 

For Goodness' sake, I look as though 
A relative had died ! 

**Yes, let me try ALL that you have — 
Some must be surely done 

In shades to suit my skin and face — 
Ah, how about this one? 

"Yes, this is it, I knew that here 
I'd find the proper thing — 

Oh, no! it flares too much in back, 
And needs a bow or wing! 

''Suppose I try this one up here? 

It's nobby, yet sedate; 
Oh, yes, I'll take this one — but hold— 

I think that I shall wait ! 

"I thank you very kindly, dear- — 

You might lay this away, 
And if I don't get suited, dear, 

I'll call another day!" 

191 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



THE SERVANT QUESTION AND HONESTY 



* 'Bridget, I want an honest girl, 

Who never tells a lie ; 
My last maid could not stick to truth, 

However she might try. 

**Now many maids would suit me well, 
Who've served me ere this day; 

But some would fib; and so with me 
I could not let them stay. 

''Remember that the Bible says: 

'Thou shalt not ever lie;' 
So I'll expect you to be true, 

And never falsify." 

So this fair dame, who loved the truth. 

Spoke now as oft before ; 
When, in the middle of her speech, 

A knock came at the door. 

She peeked outside, saw Mrs. Brown, 

And did with anger foam. 
"Go, Bridget, to the door," she said, 

"And say I'm not at home." 



192 



Dialect Verse 



Awfully und Vonderfully Made 



AWFULLY UND VONDERFULLY MADE 



Dere*s many venders in dis vorld, 

Inside und oudt of man; 
But von dot makes mine hair stand down 

ril dell you if I can. 

New York it vas, in summer dime, 

I saw dis sight so q veer ; 
It nearly dook my preath avay, 

Und knocked me off der pier. 

I saw two sticks a-valking, yaw; 

Und each von had a shoe; 
Und up apove dere vas some silk, 

Und deeth dot chewed a chew. 

Und den grease, paint — -a qvart, I dinks, 

Und powder, ach! so much; 
I daught I saw der Alps again, 

Painted too qveer to touch. 

On top dere vas a punch of hair, 

Likewise a liddle curl. 
Und vot you dink, py chimminy? 

It really vas a girl ! 



195 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



CHRISTMAS GIFTS 



Each Christmas-dime, I am beset 

Mit doubts both out and in, 
To dink vot I can gife avay, 

Until my head vill schpin. 

So vun fine tay near Christmas-dime, 

1 dook mineself to town, 
Und schpent a whole tay und a half 

In looking up und down. 

I saw der par gains every vere, 

Und looked in ef'ry schtore; 
Und vot I for mineself should puy 

I could not dink no more. 

I passed der den cent schtore pehind, 

Der counter mit der lace, 
Und silk und junk, so much, py schinks! 

I got vite in der face. 

Put ven I come pehind von schtore — 

Suspenders dere for sale — 
I said: **Py schinks! right here I schtop 

Mine face from turning pale.'* 

196 



Christmas Gifts 



Dey vas der fery finest vones 

Vot I haf efer seen; 
Und sold for fifteen cents a pair, 

Marked down from sefenteen. 

All ofer dey vas red und pink, 

Und had a stripe of plue; 
Und ven I saw dot outfit vunce, 

I said: '*Yaw, dot vill do.*' 

Six pairs of dem tings qvick I pought. 

All red und pink und plue ; 
Und made my vay pack home vunce more, 

Like poy mit prand new shoe. 

I tagged each pright suspender den 

(Dot red und pink und plue) 
Mit mine own card ; und den I wrote : 

**Much choy und grief to you." 

Von pair I sent to Uncle Pill, 

Und von to Schon und Kate ; 
To each of mine tear relatives 

I vun mit my life -mate. 

Mine mate, my vife, my pigger half. 

Mine own tear tootsie Sue, 
She packed dem up, und said to me: 

**How toughtful, Hans, uf you." 

197 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



Vone year vent py already vunce, 
Mit all its jars and schocks ; 

Und from relations uf mine vife 
Ve got a Christmas pox. 

From Uncle Pill, from Schon und Kate, 

A present come for me ; 
Und all oxcited I became, 

Und opened it to see. 

Dere in dot pox suspenders lay. 
All red und pink und plue; 

I found six pair mit mine own card: 
"Much choy und grief to you." 



198 



I Too Haf Lofed 



I TOO HAF LOFED 

(Mit Side Remarks in Prose) 



I lofed a girl long, long ago (dree veeks pack) . 
Her heart, it vas yoost like der snow (it melted). 
Und ven I spoke uf lofe, yoost so (mit tears in der 

pack yard) , 
She told me plain vere I could go (und I vent 

vunce) . 

I lofed anudder girl der same (two weeks pack) . 
Docile she vas und likevise tame (dot is, I taught 

so). / . J 

Put since she captured my goot name (mit der mar- 
riage vow), 
Py chimminy, she raise de cain (und I vas it, 
alreaty) . 

If effer I should lofe vunce more (put 1 von t), 
I vill not lofe mit efery pore (maype). 
I dink I do not as uf yore (vat's der use?), 
Propose mine lofe upon der floor (it's der wrong 
vay to pegin). 



199 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



REMAKING MYSELF 



The psychol ♦agists say we can be made over- 
in temperament. 

They say we now can be made over. 

Is that from head to toe? 
If this be the real meaning, 

Here's what I want, by Joe! 

I want no freckles on my skin. 

Put beauty spots instead; 
For luck give me a mole or two 

Then please, a whole new head. 

Put in that head more brains you bet; 

O, brains with common sense; 
Then make my daily earning power 

Worth more than thirty cents. 

And while you're doing up the job 

Give disposition new. 
And sprinkle round some patience mild 

And make me Dutch not Jew. 

Remove my nose which is too large, 
And make my teeth look straight; 

200 



Remaking Myself 



And make my ears more like a man's— 
And not a jackass's mate. 

Then don't forget that mouth of mine- 
It really is too large, 

And says too much the whole day long- 
And then, this bill, please charge. 

And when 1 am made over 

And I am not myself; 
Just send the bill to whom I was, 

And keep the change yourself. 



501 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



SCHLOW DOWN FER DER SAFETY ZONE 



Some pcnehead triver, triving py 

In auto vagon, head up high, 

Coom round der corner on der ving 

Und hit a poy pehind — ca-ping! 

I dink it vas an h'ish lad 

Dot rode so fast, schust like he's mad; 

Kes name I dink vas Mike Malone — 

A flower in far Killarney grown. 

He knocked der poy o'er fence yard pack, 

Put gas on to hes auto hack, 

Und vent some forty hours a mile — 

Dey could not catch him qvite a vile ; 

Up country road und down der pike 

Schust like der lightning I don't like, 

Ven he coom to der town, py Shake! 

He schlow down, corner fer to make: 

Der schtreet vas full, und so vas he, 

Und ending of his lipperty 

Coom ven he hit — des Mike Malone — 

A voman in der safety zone ! 



202 



Kissing Der Soldiers 



KISSING DER SOLDIERS 



The departure of the National Guard for the 
Mexican Border during the disturbances of 1916 
was marked by an extraordinary outbreak of kiss- 
ing. The soldier was kissed; then he was ready 
to go out and be shot. — News Item. 

Der girls all kiss der soldier poys 

As dey go marching py; 
Vun girl vill kiss a regiment 

Und send it off to die. 

Some men may dink it's vorth der price 

To get a kiss so dear, 
Den go to var und get killed off, 

Or shot vunce in der rear. 

Py Schinks, I like der nice young girls, 
Und vouldn't mind some miss 

A-creeping up to me some time 
Und smacking me a kiss. 

But Schimmany Schake! I here vill say 
**Goot night, nurse!" und **Goot pye" — 

For neffer vill I haf a kiss 
If den I've got to die! 

203 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



SHARKS 



Last night I took a schwim near by, 

Although I knew der sharks vas nigh; 

I vas a fool — for round der shore 

Der bathers all had seen a score. 

But I had neffer seen der shark 

Dot could scare me in light or dark, 

So in der salty surf I vent, 

To get mine money's vorth content. 

Ach! Woe iss me! Ven I schwam out, 

Dere circled up a fishy snout; 

Und 'fore I knew der deed it planned, 

It gobbled up mine goot right hand! 

Den round und round dot fellow whirled — 

Der piggest shark in all der vorld — • 

Und as I screamed, far out to sea, 

Der shark prepared to svallow me! 

I said my prayers, I made my vill, 

Und pardon asked for effery ill! 

I thought of effery wrong I'd done, 

As dot shark's snout gleamed in der sun- 

Und more, it made me ponder, too. 

On many wrongs I did not do! 

Now soon dot brute began to poke 

Mine aching ribs — mine pack he broke — 

Mine arms und legs his grinders gash 

204 



Sharks 



Till all of me is turned to hash — 
Mein Himmel! How his pig lips yawn — 
Vun minute more und I am gone! 
But den, py Schinks, mine shrill alarm 
Vaked me und schtopped all f urder harm ! 
Now, ven avake, no beach for me 
If sharks are schwimming in der sea; 
It's bad enough to dream der dread, 
Und haf a shark eat you in bed! 



205 



Poems of Mastery and Love Verse 



SOMEDING SCHOULD PE DONE 



Der dresses dot some vimen vear 

Iss surely **out of sight"; 
In fact, deyVe qvite invisible 

Eggcept in brilliant light. 

Der bareback rider on der horse 

Ve vunce thought very bare, 
But pretty long we find her skirts 

Ven now our eyes compare! 

A dree-year-baby-gown*s more long — 

Dese garments iss a sin — 
So short dey vill not cover vunce 

A dimple on der chin ! 

Someding ought pretty qvick pe done 

To schtop dis shrinking dress. 
For schimmany Schake! How high *tvill go 

Nobody. dares to guess! 

Let's hope dot voman soon vill change 
Der kind of clothes she choose — 

She surely should pull down dot skirt, 
Or else pull up her shoes! 



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